(Re)contar a escritora (mal)dita, Cassandra Rios: uma nova contagem de livros da autora e uma investigação interdisciplinar sobre lesbianidade, censura e marginalização literária

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the literary pioneering of Cassandra Rios and her contribution to discussions on lesbian identities in Brazilian literature and society. She’s known as “Brazil’s most banned author”, Cassandra Rios faced intense moral and institutional persecution, devising strategies to navigate the publishing market and censorship in order to ensure her continued presence. In this context, the study proposes a reassessment of her literary output, questioning the figures commonly cited. The objective is to analyze how Rios’s work challenges norms of gender and sexuality, particularly in the novel I am a lesbian (1981), in which the protagonist’s construction reinforces and subverts lesbian stereotypes to engage with the reader. The analysis reveals that Rios constructed a model of lesbian identity through the character Flávia, ironically exposing the normative ideal of the only socially “acceptable” lesbian. To this end, the study adopts an analytical-interpretative approach, focusing on textual materiality, narrative devices, and discursive strategies. The research draws on theoretical frameworks from gender studies, such as Facco (2004), Navarro-Swain (2004), Butler (2019), Rich (2010), Preciado (2014) and Wittig (2022), as well as literary theory on the Brazilian military dictatorship, including Reimão (2011) and Silva (1989), to examine the impact of Rios’s writing within the context of censorship and literary marginalization. The study concludes that Cassandra Rios’s work holds a significant place in Brazilian literature, and her pioneering role is inscribed within the tension between visibility and normativity, transgression and containment, establishing her as a (bad)writer — disruptive and, therefore, essential.