The Spurious Gospel of Teodorico Raposo: the laughter and descontruction of Bible in ''The Relic'', by Eça de Queirós

Abstract

This work intends to present an analysis of some aspects of the novel “The Relic”, by Eça de Queirós, first published in 1887. In this book, the Portuguese writer does the same as in “The Mandarin” (1880), moving partially away from Realism and Naturalism, literary movements he was dedicated to throughout his life, to explore once again the fantasy genre. This time Eça de Queirós presents a narrative that shows great intertextuality with biblical texts. However, typical as it is of Eça, who wrote novels such as “The Sin of Father Amaro” (1875), the presence of social critique is also there, despite the use of fantastic elements in such work, what makes the reader come across an extremely sarcastic and ironic text that not only depicts the conservatism of Portuguese society in the 19th Century but also – and most of all – reveals its hypocrisy and fake morality, which were originated from Portuguese Catholicism practices. Thus, this work aims at discussing Eça de Queiróz’s text from the perspective of Theopoetics and more specifically the Theology of Laughter, a new field of study emerged in Brazil that tries to compare the Bible and Literature. It will be seen, then, how laughter, humor and mockery, alongside the use of allegories and metaphors, are Eça’s main tools to desecrate the biblical text and criticize religion as an institution. At the same time, in an unusual way, the author uses the adventures and dreams of Teodorico Raposo, the first-person narrator in “The Relic”, to lead the reader on a trip to the Land of the Gospel, the sacred city of Jerusalem and the streets and places where the Christian Messiah so many times passed by, preaching his doctrine and healing blind men and cripples.