Aside #13 - 19th Century Brazil & Machado de Assis

On our 13th Aside, we are joined by fellow casual academic Clay Oppenhuizen to talk 19th century Brazilian literature and history, as well as introduce our second featured author of Brazilian Literature Month, Machado de Assis. We are reading his 1881 novel "The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas," otherwise known as 'Epitaph of a Small Winner." Apart from presenting an angle of Brazilian culture and society at the end of the 19th century, we also talk (bordering on rant) about how Western media and literary circles, perhaps inadvertently, downplay the importance and uniqueness of Brazilian writers.

We hope you enjoy the episode, and don't forget to check out our website www.thecasualacademic.com for articles, bibliographies and further reading for every episode, and a catalogue of all our episodes and asides.

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