BETWEEN THE ABSURD AND THE FANTASTIC: NIHILISTIC EXISTENTIALISM IN THE SHORT STORIES OF S. BARRETO

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the presence of the existentialist philosophical current in the short narratives of the Brazilian short story writer S. Barreto, highlighting how some of his stories reveal the search for a “(re)signification” of a world often marked by the predominance of the “absurd.” By exploring the confrontations faced in situations of anguish and despair, the study will also demonstrate the influence of nihilism, particularly on the construction of S. Barreto’s narrative corpus and on the psychological development of his characters. The theoretical framework will include authors such as Heidegger (2005), Kierkegaard (2010), Nietzsche (2006, 2011), Sartre (1943, 1968, 2005), and Schopenhauer (2000), among others. Thus, Barreto’s fictional production, by blending realism and the fantastic, reveals a strong tension between the human condition and the absence of meaning, providing a biting critique of contemporary society and modern life.