Entre a opressão e a subversão: reflexões sobre a representação feminina em contos de Lygia Fagundes Telles e Conceição Evaristo

Abstract

In this Master thesis, our main objective is to analyze the representations of women in some short stories by Lygia Fagundes Telles and Conceição Evaristo, two renowned writers of contemporary Brazilian literature. Our main corpus is “Venha ver o pôr do sol” and “O moço do saxofone”, which are part of the book Antes do baile verde, by Lygia Fagundes Telles, and “Maria” and “Luamanda”, which are part of the book Olhos d’água, by Conceição Evaristo. These fictional texts were selected, firstly, due to the period in which they were written: the 1970s and the 2010s, periods that marked, respectively, different perspectives of feminist thought in Brazil. Furthermore, we consider the common theme among the short stories: the first mentioned by each author deal with gender violence and the second, with female sexual freedom. Based on concepts and approaches offered by feminist studies and criticism, we reflect on the relationship between the representations of women and their conditions in these narratives and the sociocultural context in which they are inserted. To this end, we explore theoretically and historically the demands and achievements of women in Brazil to examine how hegemonic feminism and, more recently, black feminism have made possible the action and representation of women, as well as the questioning of the female condition, in contemporary literature. Through this approach, we discuss how issues related to discrimination, violence, sexuality and gender oppression receive different treatments in the stories analyzed and how these differences in perspectives are related to important concepts brought by feminism and black writing, such as intersectionality and escrevivência. Methodologically, we developed a theoretical-critical study, based on research of bibliographies written by feminist scholars and theorists, such as Constância Lima Duarte, Jacqueline Pitanguy, Sueli Carneiro, Lélia Gonzalez, bell hooks, Carla Akotirene, Djamila Ribeiro, as well as Conceição Evaristo herself, among others.