Semiotics and Rhetoric in two short tales by Machado de Assis

This paper aims to promote a productive dialogue between French Semiotics (Greimas) and Rhetoric, by analyzing two short tales by the Brazilian writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908), entitled Teoria do medalhao ["Theory of the medalhao"] and O espelho ["The mirror"]. Though very different in form and content, the two texts share a common point: both of them discuss some kind of "identity deconstruction"process. Thus, in the first tale, a father proposes to teach his son how to adopt an empty-and therefore devoid of identity-discourse and behavior so as to reach success in a society of appearances. In the second tale, we observe an involuntary process of identity loss, which goes beyond discourse and takes possession of the individual subject, thereby threatening his very existence.