Abstract
In this article we seek, firstly, to elucidate how Machado de Assis developed the conception of the unconscious in the novel Helena (1876) and in the short story Uma senhora (1883). Secondly, we examine how his conception of unconscious can be elucidated phenomenologically, from the relation between reflective and pre-reflective awareness. In these narratives, Machado reveals how certain emotions, although not reflectively apprehended by the subject who lives them, manifest indirectly in actions, in body expressions and in the understanding of the world.
Keywords:
unconscious; Machado de Assis; history of psychology in Brazil; phenomenological psychology