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"LANGUAGES" AND "VOICES" IN BRAZILIAN LITERATURE

1996; UNIVERSIDADE EST.PAULISTA JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO; Volume: 36; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

0101-3505

Eva Paulino Bueno,

Linguistics and Education Research

This essay is a comparative study of three works of Brazilian literature: A came, by Julio Ribeiro, published in 1888; A horn da estrela, The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector, published in 1977, and O cobra dor, by Rubem Fonseca, published in 1979. In this study, I initially investigate matters related to the Portuguese language and its relationship with a possible which it gives - or denies - to some characters, while it negotiates its own space in relation both to other European languages and to African languages present in national territory. As a second step, I raise some questions about post modernity and the placement of Brazilian literature in relation to postmodernist postulates invented in the the first world and hastily adopted everywhere. My main interest throughout is to question the validity of affirmations that literature - some kinds of literature - can be a privileged space for the oppressed to speak.