A Carne
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| Author | Júlio Ribeiro |
|---|---|
| Language | Portuguese |
| Publisher | Teixeira & Irmão |
Publication date | 1888 |
| Publication place | Brazil |
| Media type | Hardcover |
A Carne (in English: The Flesh) is an 1888 naturalistic novel by Júlio Ribeiro. It is one of the most controversial works of the Brazilian literature, being frequently compared and considered as a forerunner to D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover.[1]
Lenita is a young, naive 22-year-old woman who, recently orphaned, goes to live with an old farmer who raised her father. In the farmer's house, she meets his son, Manuel Barbosa, a divorced man. They soon start a forbidden love relationship.
Criticism
A Carne has themes considered to be "strong" for the time it was released (the 19th century), such as divorce and heavy eroticism, among others. A naturalistic novel, it bears the influence of Émile Zola, whose work Riberio praised.[2] Many people have negatively reviewed the romance, such as José Veríssimo and Alfredo Pujol. The most vehement critic was the priest Sena Freitas, who wrote an article entitled A Carniça (English: The Carrion) for the famous newspaper Diário Mercantil, for which the book's author, Júlio Ribeiro, also worked. Ribeiro refuted Freitas' critiques in the articles O Urubu Sena Freitas (English: Sena Freitas, the Vulture). Freitas' and Ribeiro's articles were compiled and published posthumously in 1934 under the title Uma Polêmica Célebre (English: A Famous Controversy).
Ribeiro once said, referring to his position:
Of the controversies I have caused, not one of them was caused by me. I don't know how to attack; I only know how to defend myself — how to retaliate.
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