abstract
This study broaches the dialogue between Chico Buarque’s novel Leite derramado and “The purgatory” of Dante Alighieri’s The divine comedy. In the Brazilian novel, the perspective of the narrator-character, Eulálio d’Assumpção, who lies at the threshold between life and death in a public hospital, represents the experience of purgatory. The description of the scenario, of Eulálio’s sufferings and lamentations and the characters’ anthroponymy echo the fictional imagination of Florence’s best-known poet. The use of literary carnivalization in the novel, however, reverses the trajectory of Dante’s comedy. In the purgatory stage, the narrator-character goes from childhood paradise to the hell of decadence. Through a confessional narrative of sorts, the narrator-character reveals politically incorrect thoughts and acts that discredit the representatives of Brazil’s decadent elites. As such, Chico Buarque skillfully reinterprets Dante’s work to critically expound on both esthetics and on human nature.
Keywords:
Leite derramado; purgatory; Dante Alighieri; Chico Buarque