Abstract
The present work intends to rescue the literary work of Aluísio Azevedo from the neglect to which it seems to have been condemned by a majority of literary critics who, since the end of the nineteenth century, have been treating his narratives as school examples of second-rate naturalism. Starting from the analysis of the evolution and the composition of his main characters, this paper seeks to find out how the condition of the Portuguese immigrant was recreated in fictional lines, in order to question the presumed anti-lusitanism that the author of The Slum (O Cortiço in Portuguese) has been accused of so many times.
Keywords:
Aluísio Azevedo; naturalism; character; immigrant; anti-lusitanism