Law, history and literature: epistemological reflections on the masterpiece of João Gumes

Abstract

This paper has the objective to show some reflections on the possibilities of the dialogue between Law, History and Literature, and show some considerations about the concepts of culture, language and literature, in order to discuss the possible methodological ways of this type of approach. Considering that the literary productions (specially the novels) can be historical sources with great potential to the study of a specific social and juridical context, points of view are presented here from various authors that elucidate this problem and point to a fertile “dialogism” between these knowledge areas. Since the characteristics of such sources are preserved, it is possible to succeed in a serious historiographical work engaged with the methodological accuracy. The hypotheses were tested through a succinct analysis of João Gumes’ literature, in Alto Sertão Baiano, Brazil, in early twentieth century.