THE RECADO DO MORRO AND THE DIONYSIAN CALL

Abstract

The landscape of the sertão, with its arid and challenging characteristics, serves as the backdrop for Guimarães Rosa’s narrative. The characters venture into an uncertain territory, driven by adventure and the hope of finding answers to life’s great questions. In the light of Nietzschean categories of the Apollonian and the Dionysian, O recado do morro can be compared to the Dionysian call that allows the traveler to reestablish a bond with an alienated nature, overcoming both the rigid linearity of reason (Apollonian) and the chaotic fragmentation of discourse (Dionysian) through the reconciliatory function of art. In this article, we propose to evaluate the meaning of the message, which challenges rational logic by integrating elements of the mystery, the tragic, and the sublime in the trajectory of life and death in the sertão. The oral and enigmatic nature of the short story reinforces the confrontation with Apollonian logic and brings the narrative closer to the Dionysian experience. However, music allows the disconnected fragments of speech, through word-of-mouth, to be integrated into a coherent narrative that frees the character from the fateful conspiracy, thus restoring the intelligibility of the message.

Keywords: Guimarães Rosa. Philosophy. Literature. Recado do Morro. Dionysian experience.