A representação da intersexualidade a partir dos discursos religiosos em An Ordinary Wonder, de Buki Papillon: uma análise dialógica da arquitetônica da obra

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the construction of discourses on intersexuality in the novel An Ordinary Wonder (Papillon, 2022). In this work, the author portrays the experience of Oto, a young intersex girl in Nigeria, a country marked by strict laws against homosexuality and transness and a strong Christian influence. Our analysis is based on Bakhtin’s (2015) concept of dialogism, which views the literary text as an ongoing dialogue between the “world of art” and the “world of life.” Thus, our research investigates how the representation of religious discourses, both Christian and those of local Nigerian religions, shape, through the language used by the author, the perspectives on intersexuality in the novel. Bakhtin’s concept of architectonics is applied to understand how form, content, and material interrelate to create an aesthetic and meaningful work. The results show that Papillon (2022) constructs a counterpoint between the Christian discourse, which demonizes intersex bodies, and the more inclusive view of local Nigerian religions, which considers intersexuality a natural condition.