THE MACOBEBAS AND MACUNAÍMA BY JOAQUIM CARDOZO

Abstract

In the play “Marechal, boi de carro” (1975), Joaquim Cardozo presents a place called Muribeca, that is completely destroyed by macobebas, a group of creatures characterized by their destructive behavior. Thus, the monster Macobeba, first created by Júlio Bello, gives rise to a group of beings, even though Júlio Bello is not even mentioned in the play. On the other hand, Macunaíma, created by Mário de Andrade, also appears in the play, but just like he is in Mario’s book. One of the characters of the play tells a story in which he meets Macunaíma and he is pretty much the same. Therefore, we are going to compare how Macobeba and Macunaíma, very important characters of Brazilian Modernism, are refigured in the play, highlighting the differences in their re-elaborations. In order to produce this analysis, a comparative study of the mentioned characters, we are going to use concepts that are part of a contemporary reflection on the study of characters, like the concept of re-figuration, developed by Carlos Reis.