Amora, Amores E Eros: O Lesboerotismo Em Contos De Polesso

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the presence of lesbian eroticism in the short stories of Amora (2021) by Natalia Borges Polesso, a Rio Grande do Sul author, investigating how the lesbian experience between the characters is constructed through desire and self-awareness. Drawing on references from feminist and lesbian-feminist literary criticism, the study observes how eroticism is articulated with the daily lives and affections of the characters. Since the characters are exclusively lesbian, this work uses the term "lesboeroticism" to refer to the erotic experience between them. The short stories chosen for analysis were "Flor, flores, ferro retorcido" and "Os demônios de Renfield," which are the stories in the second and third chapters of this dissertation. The first chapter addresses the presence of lesboeroticism in the collection, drawing on passages from various stories to discuss recurring themes throughout the work. In the analyzed stories, lesboeroticism emerges in various erotic forms, being associated with silences, discoveries, and desire. The theoretical framework is guided by authors such as hooks (2024), Rich (2010), and Lorde (2019) to discuss the relationship between women from a feminist perspective. To discuss eroticism, authors such as Lorde (2019), Carson (2022), Bataille (1987), Han (2017), and Paz (1994) are essential to the work. It is concluded, through Polesso's work, that lesboeroticism shifts the understanding of the erotic from always being linked to sex and considers it an experience lived by lesbian characters in different areas of their lives, including affection and care, even between women of different ages or from the same family. Polesso's characters are all permeated by the realm of Eros. In that sense, they demonstrate the importance of experiencing the erotic.