SOURCE: "Myth and Identity in Short Stories by Jorge Amado," in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 23, No. 1, Winter, 1986, pp. 25-34.

In the following essay, Vieira analyzes several of Amado's shorter works in order to illuminate common themes and universal truths found in all of Amado's work.

Overshadowed by the success of such bawdy, sweeping, lyrical, and socially-minded novels as Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, Shepherds of the Night, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, and Tereza Batista Home From the Wars, Jorge Amado's short fiction has understandably received little attention from readers and critics. Except for the highly acclaimed short story/novella, A Morte e a Morte de Quincas Berro D'Água, 1959 (The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell) and the fable, O Gato Malhado e a Andorinha Sinhá (The Swallow and the Tom Cat: A Love Story) first composed in 1948 but published in 1979, there has been scant commentary on...