A poesia de Tutameia

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting João Guimarães Rosa’s last book published during his lifetime, Tutameia: Terceiras estórias, and some of the criticism about it. Initially, we discuss the complex and enigmatic architecture of the book, in which the paratexts play a particularly important role. Then, we deal with the specificities of Tutameia’s language in relation to the set of narratives of Guimarães Rosa, based on studies dedicated to exploring the linguistic originality of Rosa’s work. The book is composed of very short “estórias”, whose meanings are condensed in very few words. In this discussion of the language of Terceiras estórias, we paid special attention to resources traditionally attributed to poetry, which are used in the composition of the short stories of the book.