Dançando com a morte: uma análise da construção estético-ideológica do protagonista queer em The Death of Vivek Oji, de Akwaeke Emezi

Abstract

In the context of Brazilian academic research, interest in Anglophone African literature has been steadily growing. However, queer African literature remains a relatively underexplored theoretical field. This study seeks to contribute to filling this gap by investigating the dynamics of oppression and self-affirmation that permeate the aesthetic-ideological construction of Vivek Oji, the queer protagonist in Akwaeke Emezi's novel The Death of Vivek Oji (2020). In the work, the author constructs the character so as to make them both oppressed by the discourse of cisheteronormative Protestantism and empowered to confront it through the self-affirmation of their gender non-conformity. For this investigation, Bakhtin’s (2015) theory of the novel underpins discussions on the impact of the oppression experienced by the character and also aids in understanding how Emezi (2020) develops Vivek in a way that allows for their refusal to assimilate the aforementioned authoritative discourse. Additionally, the analysis is guided by Bakhtin's concept of architectonics, based on the idea that the literary text should be analyzed through the integration of content, material, and form (Bakhtin, 2002). Thus, the aim is to understand how the character’s discourses and actions express their axiological stance towards the Protestant discourse that subjugates them. The study concludes that, despite being oppressed, Vivek wholly rejects this authoritative discourse, highlighting their ongoing quest for the self-affirmation of their dissident identity.