The Athenaeum: A Novel

Raul Pompeia

06/2015 · Northwestern University Press

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Published in 1888, O Ateneu is a classic of Brazilian literature. It stands as one of the best examples of the Realist/Naturalist mode of fiction flourishing at the time (following the lead of French literature), but the novel’s first-person narration and satirical edge make it a more complex work. These features also distinguish it from the then-popular “school” novel. As the narrator recounts his humiliating experiences as a student, it becomes clear that his school is structured and administered so as to reproduce the class divisions and power structure of the larger society. At the same time, Pompéia maintains the novel’s credibility as a bildungsroman by portraying the narrator’s psychological development. The novel’s conclusion at once suggests both a doomed society and its possible redemption, indicative of a moment of upheaval and transition in Brazilian history.

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RAUL POMPÉIA (1863–1895), a canonical nineteenth-century Brazilian author, wrote novels, short stories, and journalistic pieces. He belonged to the Naturalist school, though his work sometimes subverted its principles. He was also a political activist, eventually committing suicide when his writing got him in trouble with the authorities.

RENATA R. M. WASSERMAN is professor emerita of English at Wayne State University.

CÉSAR BRAGA-PINTO is an associate professor of Brazilian and comparative literature at Northwestern University