Protagonist-prototype

The work of writer João Gilberto Noll has gained notoriety within contemporary Brazilian literature for its unique language and its approach to themes dear to literary and cultural studies in our time. This prominence has been reflected in various academic works (theses and dissertations) and also in literary criticism. This work focuses on the analysis of Noll’s novel O quieto animal da esquina, based on a transdisciplinary theoretical contribution, especially Gilles Lipovetsky’s A era do vazio: ensaio sobre o individualismo contemporâneo (The Age of Emptiness: An Essay on Contemporary Individualism), to outline a profile of the novel’s protagonist based on the French philosopher’s conceptualization of contemporary individualism. In this way, we hope to understand how Noll’s aesthetics incorporate the individualistic practices in vogue in the composition of his character and, consequently, in the constitution of a plot that develops entirely linked to him. It is also hoped, in particular, that the perception of the ways in which literature reads the society of which it is contemporary will also prompt reflection on our practices, customs, and values today.