In the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, the time of the Black Death and the witch hunts, melancholy became the true mood of the age. Melancholy arose out of this dark situation. But it also arose, paradoxically, out of the new horizons that were opening up in the sciences and the arts. At the same time, a speculative commercial euphoria gripped Europe. It was then that European ships, crossing the Atlantic, arrived in Brazil, bringing with them the seeds of melancholy.
This is the trajectory reconstructed by Moacyr Scliar in this book that explores literature, the visual arts, medicine, and politics to outline a comprehensive panorama of the history of melancholy and its repercussions in Brazilian culture.
The narrative unfolds in three parts: classical antiquity, the Renaissance, and Brazil during the transition to modernity. Scliar speaks of King Saul, anatomy, witchcraft, and syphilis; of Du rer and Bruegel; of Hamlet, Policarpo Quaresma, and Jeca Tatu; of Cervantes, Machado de Assis, Lima Barreto, Paulo Prado, and Clarice Lispector. His medical knowledge is combined with the skills of an acclaimed writer: erudition and style complement each other in a witty and fluid manner.
In this way, the author creates a panel on a subject of great importance for understanding the Brazilian condition today. Scliar conducts a comprehensive study of the European melancholy that Brazil has inherited, a feeling that the country has fought against and is trying to replace with hope.
