FOR A NON-BIOGRAPHICAL READING OF MÁRIO DE SÁ-CARNEIRO'S WORK (AND AN APPRECIATION OF «MODERNISMO EM MÁRIO DE SÁ-CARNEIRO» BY FERNANDO CABRAL MARTINS)

Abstract

This article intends to analyse the importance of understanding the work of Mário de Sá-Carneiro through a close reading of his literary production that does not seek proof of the “veracity” of that reading in the biography of the Orpheu poet. Based on an analysis of the critical work of Fernando Cabral Martins, the article raises the problematic question of corrupting literary criticism with approaches influencedby literary historical conventions that insert the work in its historical context, which has been the case in the reception of Mário de Sá-Carneiro’s work, where the myth of the author has tended to obfuscate his literary legacy. Therefore, this article questions whether in O Modernismo em Mário de Sá-Carneiro, Fernando Cabral Martins manages to liberate Sá-Carneiro’s work from the shadow of the biographical poet, and it offers a panoramic assessment of the critical tradition dedicated to the author, identifying cases of interpretations that are caught up in questions that lie outside the text, as has been the case of the homosexual nature of the work and the man.