Gregorio(s) de Matos: Patterns of Representation and Orders of Discourse

Abstract

Stemming from expedients from a Foucauldian underpinning for discourse analysis, this article deals with a textual corpus in Portuguese, consisting of textbooks, histories of Brazilian literature and recent essays, in which the literary figure of Gregorio de Matos is found. It aims to reflect upon the patterns of representing such a figure in those textual instances, with regards to bringing forth the implied orders of discourse. By the analysis of the tactics of structural coercion and the implicated material effects – both tactics and effects create a certain image of Gregorio de Matos that structures an order of discourse that, in turn, structures that very same image –, we aim at bringing forth the plays of truth that configure experiences that are related, in particular, to the notion of author, artistic creation and literature history, and, in general, to the notion of subjectivity and agency.