Euclides da Cunha: leitor de histórias e romances do século XIX

Abstract

This essay proposes that the historical novel and historiography of the nineteenth century were decisive in shaping the uniqueness of Os Sertões by Euclides da Cunha. Both genres shared excitement and truthfulness that can broaden the discussion about the confluence between “science and literature”, on going since the publication of this work. While the novel has become a major stimulus for Euclides’ formation as a writer, the conception of history as a science and as an art form proposed by Taine in Essai sur Tite Live (1856) was a paradigm for Os Sertões.