Paratext: fire, smoke and ash

Abstract

Fire and its derivations, smoke, and ash are generally used in literature literally or metaphorically. Bearing in mind the function of a preface in relation to the literary work that it presents, the aim of this article is to understand this paratext from the viewpoint of fire and its effects. That is, when the preface can be to a book either the fire that projects it to history or the smoke that makes it forgettable. In order to do that, the theoretical background of Gérard Genette and his concepts about paratext and preface is considered, as well as Didi-Hubermann’s reflections about image burns. Finally, as examples of prefaces, Dante’s Commedia translations to Portuguese in the 20th century are used.