ABSTRACT
In Graciliano Ramos' novel Anguish1 1 TN: The novel Angústia was first published in Brazil in 1936. For the English version of this article, we used the edition in the English language, whose reference is: RAMOS, G. Anguish. Translated by L. C. Kaplan. New York: Alfred A. Knopp, 1946. , the gradual psychical dissolution of the main character, Luiz da Silva, has a close relationship to the conditions of modern urban life. The city is sometimes referred to or signified as Babel, the original urban chaos, and other times as Babylon, the urbs corrupted by vice. Furthermore, recurring metaphors like those of the rats (meaning degradation of life, corruption of sexuality, or the predatory character of bourgeois materialism) and the emphasis on the feelings of anguish,2 2 In the English version of this article, the word "angústia" is translated as "anguish," its more direct equivalent. However, when it refers to Freud's Angst, it is translated as "anxiety." reveal connections between Ramos' novel and philosophical/psychological concepts of Angst in Freud, in Kierkegaard and in Heidegger.
KEYWORDS:
City; Anguish; Graciliano Ramos; Rats