Fábulas e efabulações no moralista D. Francisco Manuel de Melo

Abstract

Any approach to the fable implies taking into account the multiplicity of meanings of the concept. One of its senses, which concerns us the most in this specific article, concurs with the notion of «apologue», and is often confused with it. Both are defined by means of a narrative dimension, in which the fantastic element is present, as well as by an explicit moralizing side. The work of Francisco Manuel de Melo updates some of the term’s meanings, both as a result of the author’s fabulation in Apólogos Dialogais, and of the recreation of the esopic tradition.