Aspectos da repercussão de Alexandre Dumas no Brasil: o romance-folhetim e a ficção nacional

Abstract

Le Capitaine Paul, by Alexandre Dumas, was the first newspaper serial novel ever to be translated into Portuguese in Brazil. It was published in 1838. Studying the context for the launch of the new genre in the country allows us to reconsider the importance of this publication in the landscape of Brazilian fiction, the first samples of which were produced in the 1830s. Based on the reception of this novel, local fiction production grew significantly. Agents like the editor of Jornal do Commercio,Junius Villeneuve, and publisher-bookseller Baptiste-Louis Garnier were key to the constitution of a market around Brazilian literature, which favored the creation of original works by Brazilian authors and the translation of foreign works spurred by the success of serial novels. Considering the implications of translation and the international circulation of works in consolidating the success of authors and developing national literatures, the goal of this article is to verify aspects of Alexandre Dumas’s career and his insertion inthe Brazilian literary field through the actions of publishers and book-sellers, such as Villeneuve and Garnier, and to note the impact of his presence amidst the nascent Brazilian production of fiction.