In the century's stage: contemporary variations of “the great theater of the world” in Alexei Bueno's poetry

Abstract

Curtius's work, on the section regarding the classical and lifetime metaphors in literature, addresses a topic to “the great theater of the world”. To the german philologist, “the origin of the world representation as a theater in which men, moved by God, play their roles” is found on Plato’s late dialogues, Laws and Philebus. According to the author, the “comparison of men to actors, becomes a common-place” which joins the latin literature (Horace and Seneca) and christian works (Paul, Clement of Alexandria, and St. Augustine). Medieval writers (Boethius, John of Salisbury) continue to produce the topos which extends to the modernity with Ronsard, Shakespeare, Calderón, Cervantes, among others. This article tracks other examples of this common-place, but it focuses on the following works of the Rio de Janeiro-based poet Alexei Bueno: A via estreita (1993), A juventude dos deuses (1996) and Entusiasmo (1997). This trilogy presents conceptions of this classical topos, yet modulated from hyper-real or virtual circumstances, according to Jean Baudrillard’s sense. Therefore, it is proposed an interpretation of the theatrical metaphor variations on Bueno’s work based on the referred concepts as ways of reality weakening and world authentic experience dulling.