The theatrical court of Um copo de cólera, based on eristic dialectic

Abstract

This study aims to expand upon the final considerations presented in the conclusion of the author's doctoral thesis (Costa, 2021). It is proposed to develop a diachronic reading of the chapter “O esporro”, from Um copo de cólera (Nassar, 1992), through the realization of an overview of Schopenhauerian eristic dialectic, present in the discursive clash of the protagonist couple. For this purpose, first, brief considerations are made on how this dialectic works, based on Schopenhauer (1997). Then, through the structural approach, two hypotheses for reading the highlighted chapter of the nassarian work are presented – one, based on the narrations, and the other, based on the dialogues – in order to begin the analysis of the discussion between a farmer and a journalist. Precisely to better understand how eristic stratagems, in verbal confrontation, are used by both sides, we opted for reading with an emphasis on the dialogues. Thus, several of the characters' speeches in the chapter were analyzed diachronically. During the scrutiny, the perspective becomes clear that the couple acts as if they were in a theatrical court, with actions divided into four acts: warning; prosecution and defense; confession and retaliation. In a transit of extraliterary references, a journey of the two's verbal quarrels is made, amidst the sequential identification of the eristic stratagems used, while several discoveries take place.