The Gospel According to Júlio de Queiroz

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing and reflecting upon some aspects of Júlio de Queiroz’ work, a Brazilian writer from Espírito Santo (Southeast Brazil) who lived many years in Santa Catarina – place where he published many books, among which outline his literary works, such as short stories, poems, crônicas and essays. In his literary work, Júlio de Queiroz shows a close relationship with the city of Florianópolis, main setting for his short stories. Besides disclosing the work of this little known and studied author in Brazil, this article intends to analyze and discuss the way Júlio de Queiroz’ work dialogues with the biblical narrative in an intertextual way. For such, an analysis based on the studies of Theopoetics is adopted. To do so, we analyze two short stories from the book “Encontro de Abismos”, first published in 2002: “Escuridão no meio-dia” and “Enigma no entardecer”.The main conclusion we can develop by reading these short stories is the dialogue that Júlio de Queiroz’ work establishes with other writers who also dialogue with the Bible and Christian culture. We can also point out the recurring procedure in his short stories of writing texts that explore the literary and multiple-meaning character of the Bible. In that sense, the author’s texts explore spaces and passages that allow the reader build his own readings and interpretations.