Mundos-Bitita: um estudo sobre o bildung, o postupok e a parresia no Diário de Bitita, de Carolina Maria de Jesus

Abstract

This thesis establishes a dialogue between Carolina Maria de Jesus and two 20th-century philosophers, Mikhail Bakhtin and Michel Foucault, all of whom have much to say about the world in which they coexisted and produced their works, at certain moments concurrently. Regarding the methodology applied in this thesis, it is based on bibliographic analysis, conducting a comprehensive review of the available literature on Carolina Maria de Jesus, her works, and her historical and social context, by exploring critical studies, literary analyses, sociological research, and other relevant works that address the life and work of the author. Our research object is Diário de Bitita (1986). Initially, we establish the literary genre of the novel, understood as an "autobiographical coming-of-age novel," a black and feminine Bildungsroman. Then, through a careful analysis of the character Bitita's discourse, we analyze the semantic transformations of the word "mundo" (World) throughout the entire narrative. Subsequently, we focus on the identification and interpretation of elements related to the concepts of postupok and parresía. What we argue in this thesis, based on the research on Carolina Maria de Jesus, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Michel Foucault, is that postupok is not limited to a specific form but encompasses all possible forms of discourse. However, within this multiplicity, parresía emerges as a stable and recognizable form in certain circumstances and enunciative characteristics. While there is an intersection between postupok and parresía, we emphasize that not every postupok is configured as a parresía, but almost every parresía is configured as a postupok. What we defend is that postupok encompasses parresía, and Diário de Bitita encompasses both.