In Brazilian writing of the colonial era, the essay is traditionally defined by its historical, documental and descriptive nature and purpose; however, this type of text, consisting of ―narrative-letters‖ and ―chronicles‖, through which the reader is invited to comprehend the desires and hopes of some of the protagonists in the drama we call ―colonial life‖, also has an esthetic-literary dimension. The flexibility of this literary genre is rooted in the relationship between thought and word, and in the passage from experience to observation. Seen in these terms, this dissertation will analyze a text in which two intimately interconnected dimensions of knowledge – literature and history – can be readily identified, and which are deployed as a means of providing a better understanding of how established Portuguese narratives influenced the first literary productions in Brazil. The analysis focuses on the work of Luís dos Santos Vilhena, a Portuguese teacher of Greek living in Brazil, who cultivated the aesthetic norms established by Classical Antiquity, and whose testimony was published in a narrative entitled Recopilação de Notícias Soteropolitanas e Brasílicas (1802) (―A Compilation of News from Salvador and from Brazil‖). As an intellectual adherent of Enlightened Reformism (reformismo illustrado), Vilhena anticipated the crisis of the colonial system and, at the same time, provided a social, political and economic diagnosis of Brazil, on the basis of which he proposes to the Colony a series of reforms. In contrast, in his descriptions and his reporting of news from the ―captaincies‖ of Bahia, he alludes to the Classical world, evoking Roman and Greek myths, heroes and events, the names of poets and philosophers, and highlights their relations with both the celebrities and the common people of their time. Reflecting this duality, the dissertation begins by providing a dialogue between literature and history, in recognition of the fact that 18th century Enlightenment thought had established that, in the specific context under scrutiny, in order to comprehend the cultural history of the relations between metropolis and colony, the only literary material worthy of consideration consisted of resources drawn from the historical record. The publication and reception of Vilhena‘s manuscript is used to illustrate and test this characterization. Subsequently, we identify and evaluate the fictional elements that constitute ―enlightened discourse‖, above all the coexistence of the production of meaning and the metaphorical mechanism that together reflect the hybrid character of the essay genre. The historical-literary analysis, based on the methodology adopted by Antônio Candido (2005), using the first edition of Braz de Amaral (1921), examines allegorical schemes with a view to recuperating and re-evaluating the role of the fictionality of ―narrative-letters‖ in the constitution of Brazilian literature. These works, by adorning discourse in a literal-figurative manner, reveal the meaning of the things, the men and the real events of that time, and allow us to perceive how values and feelings are reflected in literary works. / A natureza do ensaio própria da escrita colonial brasileira é tradicionalmente vinculada ao caráter histórico, documental e descritivo, porém é inegável a dimensão estético-literária das cartas-narrativas e dos cronicões que nos convidam a compreender os desejos e as esperanças de alguns personagens no ―viver em colônias‖. A flexibilidade desse gênero expressa uma relação entre pensamento à palavra, de experiência a observação. Nesse sentido, analisaremos um testemunho no qual há a existência de duas linhas engenhosas - literatura e história - do saber reconhecíveis no texto, uma subordinada à outra, visando compreender o caráter que modelava as narrativas portuguesas e influenciava as primeiras produções no Brasil. Daremos destaque ao professor de grego Luís dos Santos Vilhena, um intelectual português que cultivava os padrões estéticos da antiguidade clássica, e que deixou seu testemunho na narrativa intitulada Recopilação de Notícias Soteropolitanas e Brasílicas (1802). Como um pensador do Reformismo Ilustrado, Vilhena antecipou a crise do Sistema Colonial e, ao mesmo tempo, realizou um diagnóstico social, político e econômico, apresentando propostas de reforma na Colônia. Por outro lado, nas notícias e descrições das Capitanias da Bahia de Todos os Santos, verificam-se a alusão ao mundo clássico, principalmente ligado a mitos, heróis e eventos gregos, latinos e romanos, bem como nomes de poetas e filósofos, estabelecendo relações entre estes e pessoas comuns e ilustres de seu tempo. Centrado nessa dualidade, nesse trabalho propomos, inicialmente, um diálogo entre História e Literatura, entendendo que, até o século XVIII, considerava-se a matéria literária um recurso nos relatos históricos, para, em seguida, compreender a história cultural entre a metrópole e a colônia ditadas por ideias iluministas. Para alcançar esses objetivos, faz-se necessário o estudo das edições e da recepção do manuscrito de Vilhena. Feito isso, realizaremos o levantamento e a apreciação dos elementos ficcionais que compõem o próprio discurso ilustrado, cujas produções de sentidos coexistem em seus mecanismos metafóricos, que remetem ao caráter híbrido do gênero ensaístico. Para essa análise histórico-literária, baseada em Antônio Candido (2005), será utilizada a 1ª edição do Acadêmico Braz do Amaral (1921). Com isso, buscamos nos esquemas alegóricos resgatar a ficcionalidade das cartas-narrativas na formação da Literatura Brasileira, que por meio de um discurso literal figurado orna, mas desvela os sentidos das coisas, dos homens e dos reais acontecimentos naquela época, permitindo, dessa forma, uma reflexão de valores e sentimentos através do instrumento literário. / São Cristóvão, SE

In this multiple case study, I examined what types of sociocultural resources adult English learners brought with them from their previous contexts and what new resources they drew upon in the U.S. while learning to write in the essay genre. The study also identified how the participants chose to use previous and new sociocultural resources as mediated by the essay genre in the U.S. The following research foci shaped this study: (1) What types of sociocultural resources do adult English learners use while learning to write in the essay genre prior to and after their arrival in the U.S.? (2) How does the essay genre mediate adult English learners’ choices about sociocultural resources in the U.S.? Data collection involved semi-structured interviews, in-class and out-of-class participant observations and collection of artifacts over a period of seven weeks. Six weeks were dedicated to essay writing in an English composition course and English workshop, and one week was used to conduct a final in-depth interview with each participant. Analysis of data included coding and theme analysis. Four refugee students with diverse cultural backgrounds and who had different contacts within the educational system in the U.S. participated in the study. Results indicate that the participants relied upon seven categories of social, symbolic, and material resources when they learned to write in the essay genre. The categories are not mutually exclusive, but they do capture the variety of resources participants drew upon as writers in the essay genre prior to and after their arrival in the U.S. To draw upon their resources in the U.S., the participants also made choices that resulted in three types of actions. Those actions included losses, retentions, and gains. The essay genre mediated some retentions and gains. Those choices were driven by the essay genre demands of the participants’ new sociocultural context and, consequently, were rooted in their interaction within the new environment. Not all of the participants’ choices were mediated by the essay genre; some of them were shaped by contextual influences. Contextual influences shaped losses, as well as some of their retentions and gains. Those were general choices that were situated within particular contextual realities. As my study shows, the essay genre along with context played a significant role in contributing to shaping participant’s agentive capacity. The essay genre, in particular, shaped the kind of competencies they had to demonstrate; contextual influences shaped the types of resources and their access to them. Understanding this interaction and, in particular, how genre helps students make purposeful choices and act as competent writers contributes to a more holistic understanding of learning to write as a sociocultural act. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.