Caminhos de retorno: os deslocamentos identitários em As Mulheres de Tijucopapo

Abstract

This work seeks to investigate the subjective processes in the construction of identity in As mulheres de Tijucopapo, by Marilene Felinto. The book was written in the 1980s and, through its narrative process, points to reflections on subalternity and migration processes in literature, by bringing a black woman from the northeast as the main character in the narrative. Rísia, the narrator-character of the book, moves twice, in search of her identity roots. The character, who had already migrated to the southeast, decides to return to her northeastern origins, in the land of Tijucopapo. The place is historically reminiscent of the 18th century epic of the women warriors who defended and expelled the dutch invaders from their land. The hypothesis is that there is a spatial dimension to social and cultural relations. The character contemplates frontier spaces that project her subjectivity. As she moves around to reconstitute her identity fragmented by migratory processes, she maps out possible points of identification. In this way, Marilene Felinto questions hegemonic discourses while making speech possible for a subject on the margins of society. Through speech, it is possible to understand how cultural identity operates in a globalized society. We used Hall's (1993), Bhabha's (2003), Santiago's (2000), Benjamin's (1998), Deleuse e Rolenik (1987) theoretical framework to understand issues such as identify, migration and the flow off consciousness. In this way, the proposed discussion showed to present the ways in which migratory processes enter notions of identity and how the movement of return echoes the subjective shattering of the contemporary subject.