O simbolismo do sertão: uma leitura filosófica de Grande Sertão Veredas

Abstract

This work aims to conduct a philosophical examination of João Guimarães Rosa’s novel Grande Sertão: Veredas (1956), beginning with a necessary justification about the possibility of philosophically interpreting a literary work. It discusses a mode of philosophical expression characteristic of Brazil and presents ethodological approaches for articulating this relationship. Subsequently, drawing on the thought of Romanian philosopher Mircea Eliade, it explores the notion of myth as a sacred narrative that structures human experience and reveals exemplary models of existence, emphasizing concepts such as hierophany, symbol, and sacred time and space. Finally, in order to understand the intellectual formation of the author, the study presents a biographical and intellectual analysis of Rosa, highlighting his mystical, metaphysical, and literary influences, as well as the dialogue between Eastern traditions, Hermetic thought, and classical Western philosophy. This articulation allows for a reading of Rosa’s work as a literary reactivation of the universal mythical imagination. The analysis demonstrates how the novel stages rites of passage, existential crossings, and metaphysical tensions, condensing in its language and structure archaic elements that persist within contemporary literature. Thus, Grande Sertão: Veredas emerges as a fertile field for philosophical reflection and as a modern mbodiment of sacred mythic structur