Realism and Fantastic in the Short Story “Sem olhos” [No Eyes], by Machado de Assis: A Chronotopical Investigation

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the short story “Sem olhos” [No Eyes], by Machado de Assis, while exploring the relationship between realism and fantastic in view of Bakhtin’s concept of chronotope. Throughout our study, we emphasize how that short story questions the perception of reality while simultaneously reflecting on social issues and keeping the ambiguity and uncertainty that often characterize the fantastic. We also identify a metadiegesis that brings complexity to multiple narrative levels and highlights autonomous spatiotemporal configurations, such as the chronotopes of the nocturnal reunion and of the unfamiliar lodging, both being recurrent in fantastic and gothic literature. Furthermore, our research argues that Machado de Assis subverts the traditional dichotomy between realism and fantastic through discursive strategies that integrate the supernatural elements to the realistic elaboration of the narrative itself. Lastly, we highlight how the parallelisms between the metadiegetic levels forge an aesthetic of uncertainty while delving into subjacent psychological and social themes.