L ess than a deCade after the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888, former naval officer adolfo Ferreira Caminha published what became known as the first Brazilian novel to feature a "purely" black protagonist. 1 although Caminha's Bom Crioulo (1895) emulates much of the style and scientific mentality of nineteenth-century naturalism, à la émile Zola, it is not surprising that in the context of post-abolition rio de Janeiro (not to mention its appearance the year of oscar Wilde's trial) the novel's depiction of an explicitly sexual relationship between a runaway slave and a white teenage boy caused a sensation. 2 indeed, some critics reacted with prudish indignation and facetious speculations regarding the author's own personal experiences or inclinations. in one of the earliest reviews, Valentim Magalhães called it "imundo" (filthy) and "ascoroso" (disgusting) because, according to him, it dealt with "um ramo de pornografia até hoje inédito por inabordável, por antinatural, por ignóbil" (Notícia, 19 nov. 1895, qtd. in howes 43; a henceforth untouched branch of pornography that should remain unapproachable for being unnatural and despicable). 3 the same critic labeled it a rotten book, a "romancevômito" (vomit-novel), a "romance-poia" (waste-novel), and a pus-novel, and reproached the author for thinking that a story about the "bestial vices of a black and savage ['boçal'] sailor could have any literary interest."Caminha defended himself in a well-known newspaper piece that explained his intentions in strictly scientific terms. 4 For him, Bom Crioulo was 1 that is, not mixed-race as in aluísio de azevedo's 1881 O Mulato (The Mulatto). For studies of black characters in Brazilian literature, see, among others, sanders, sussekind, haberley, Brookshaw, Marotti, and Proença Filho.2 although homosexuality was widely discussed in the scientific circles of the era -it was almost an obsession -explicitly homosexual characters are rare in Zola's works and in nineteenth-century novels in general. and while heredity often plays an important role in the fate of characters such as Zola's nana, the category of race -as it was then being fabricated with the help of (pseudo-) scientific theories -was never at the center of French naturalism. 3 Where not indicated otherwise, translations are my own. 4 the entire article is reproduced in Bezerra 445-48. despite the warning of howes and Mendes, i believe that Caminha's comments can indeed illuminate the novel.
