Retalhos, costuras e remendos dos ancestrais na literatura negro-brasileira

Abstract

This thesis is configured as a sacred Opá – an Opá-thesis woven around the theme of death, more specifically the figure of the ancestor, in works by writers of Black-Brazilian Literature: Ponciá Vicêncio, by the Minas Gerais writer Conceição Evaristo (2003); Um defeito de cor, by the Minas Gerais writer Ana Maria Gonçalves (2006); Bará na trilha do vento, by the São Paulo writer Miriam Alves (2015); Torto arado, by the Bahian writer Itamar Vieira Junior (2019); and Um corpo à deriva: dança, by the Minas Gerais writer Edimilson de Almeida Pereira (2020). The aim of this thesis is to analyze the selected novels through the lens of the theme of death, with emphasis on post-mortem instances, the relationship with ancestors and divinities, and the interactions between visible and invisible beings. Thus, the study constructs a reading that links the field of Black literature to the appearance of the ancestor within a post-mortem experience, highlighting its interweaving with diverse Afro-Brazilian religions, as each work mobilizes its own specificities within the narratives constructed. The methodological approach is qualitative and bibliographical, prioritizing works by Black authors and establishing a multidisciplinary dialogue among different fields of knowledge, amalgamating reflections on the literary novels analyzed. To this end, the thesis develops the imagetic construction of the sacred Opá – a garment used in the worship of the male ancestor in Candomblé – as a symbol that articulates the reading of the novels and the dialogue with other artistic languages, especially photography and music. In this way, the thesis dresses the ancestor present in BlackBrazilian literary works, and each section corresponds to a specific Opá, in which the ancestor, endowed with the ritual garment, dances throughout the pages. The dialogue established with the works thus examines the religious specificities of each novel, as well as the ways in which death and post-mortem experience are manifested and how the ancestor moves within each narrative.