The reception of Papéis avulsos and the crystallization of critical common places in the work of Machado de Assis: An analytical and editorial proposal

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse the reviews published in newspapers in response to the publication of the first edition of Papéis avulsos, considered to be the first collection of short-stories in Machado de Assis's so-called "second phase." The study aims to examine how the book's reception in the aftermath of the clamour caused by the publication of Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas corroborates the confirmation of the prominent place the author occupied, and also crystallizes some commonplaces that the critics would later be consolidate through the tradition of reading Machado's work. The annex of this article also offers a proposal for editing the wealth of spur-of-the-moment criticism written about Papéis avulsos in newspapers, specifically in late 1882.