An introduction to Machado de Assis (1839-1908), the course aims at comprehending how the best-known and most canonical Brazilian author has been "whitened" and how a true "Black Turn" is now responsible for new readings of his works and life. Machado's peculiar, subtle way of dealing with race in pre- and pos-Abolition Brazil will be analyzed, so we can understand how within certain contemporary circles he's become a "quebradeiro" (a person who belongs to the peripheries), without having ever lost his centrality in the country's "ciudad letrada" (Lettered City).