Appearance and simulation as social truth in two Machadian texts

Abstract

The stories “El secreto del bonzo” and “La serenísima república” of the
Brazilian writer Machado de Assis belong to the collection Papeles Sueltos. Written in a context that specially values the sense of appearance and of public opinion, these narrations explore the contradictions between the essence and the appearance of things, between the social masks and personal desires. Our objective is to examine the framework of images, themes and characters that these Machadian texts propose around the social truth which is articulated with personal convenience.