ABSTRACT
This contribution presents the hypothesis that, by identifying the “volubility” as a formal principle of Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas, by Machado de Assis, Roberto Schwarz takes a position in the frame of the divergences between Maria Sylvia de Carvalho Franco and Fernando Henrique Cardoso in connection with the category “patrimonialism”. We place our argument on Um mestre na periferia do capitalismo (1990), by Schwarz, against the criticisms by Franco on the use she considers unfounded of the category “patrimonialism” adopted by Cardoso. We shall also discuss the relations between the formal principle of “volubility” and the category “dilema”, as proposed by Florestan Fernandes in his works.
KEYWORDS
Roberto Schwarz; Florestan Fernandes; Fernando Henrique Cardoso; Maria Sylvia de Carvalho Franco; patrimonialism