Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

Japanese: マシャード･デ･アシス（英語表記）Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

1839‐1908
A Brazilian author of Portuguese literature. Born into a poor family of black descent, he acquired knowledge of European literature and the classics while working at a printing press, and made his literary debut at the end of the Romantic period. He was active in a wide range of fields, including newspaper columns, poetry, plays, and short and long novels, and served as the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. His early works show a Romantic tendency, but his mature works (mainly short and long novels from 1880 onwards) do not fit within the framework of realism, naturalism, or symbolism that were all the rage in Brazil at the time. All of his works depict the upper and middle classes of Rio de Janeiro at the time, and are characterized by British humor, a pessimistic view of life, sharp psychological analysis, and a concise, symbolic style.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

1839‐1908
ポルトガル語文学を代表するブラジルの作家。黒人の血をひき，貧しい家庭に生まれ，印刷所で働きながらヨーロッパ文学，古典的素養を身につけ，ロマン主義の末期に文壇にデビューした。新聞のコラム，詩，戯曲，短･長編小説と幅広く活躍し，ブラジル文学アカデミーの初代会長を務めた。初期の作品にはロマン主義的傾向が認められるが，円熟期の作品(1880年以降，おもに短･長編小説)は，当時ブラジルで一世を風靡（ふうび）していた写実･自然主義，象徴主義などの枠のなかに収まるものではなく，いずれも当時のリオ･デ･ジャネイロの上流･中流社会を描き，イギリス風のユーモア，ペシミスティックな人生観，鋭い心理分析，簡潔で象徴性に富んだ文体を特徴としている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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