The entire life that might have been but was not: the story of a poet with pulmonary phthisis

Abstract

In a sketch of the life history of poet Manuel Bandeira (1886-1968) from the moment his tuberculosis was diagnosed, the article analyzes the various phases Bandeira went through in his experience with the illness. Knowing that one is afflicted with a serious disease impels efforts to preserve one's identity, to adjust to living with the disease, and to mobilize resources to fight it. Living with the progression of a disease in fact prompts the afflicted individual to undertake a systematic reconstruction of his or her identity. As the article shows, poetry was the instrument Bandeira used to reshape his own self-image.