A View of History in A cidade e as serras by Eça de Queirós

Abstract

This article presents a reading of history inherent in Eça de Queiroz’ novel A cidade e as serras. It considers the narrative procedures chosen by the author for his book and the evidence presented in the discourse of some of its characters, always seeking to understand which elements of the historical thinking of that period were listed in the text and how they could help us grasp the meaning of the novel. Facing a feebly positivist construction of history, we pinpoint a positioning based on a relativistic construction of the historical discourse, considering that some procedures point to a reflection on the ideology and the interpretation of a man-centered past.