FIGURAÇÕES DA LOUCURA NA FICÇÃO DE LIMA BARRETO

The theme of the madness has been a fascinating mystery in many fields of knowledge. In the Brazilian literature, authors such as Machado de Assis and Lima Barreto used the insanity as fictional feedstock, but denouncing with an ironic and acidic verve the Brazilian scientific discourse. In view of this, the paper examines the figurations of the madness in Lima Barreto’s fiction from the trajectory of four characters: the grammarian Lobo, Policarpo Quaresma, Ismênia and Fernando