Abolicionismo e solidariedade: uma perspectiva comparada entre Úrsula de Maria Firmina dos Reis e A Cabana do Pai Tomás de Harriet B. Stowe

Abstract

This work proposes to analyze, under an exploratory, historiographical and bibliographic methodology, the works: Úrsula (1859), by Maria Firmina dos Reis and A Cabana do Pai Tomás (1853), by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The two works written in the 19th century, when slavery was still legal, reveal a writing movement in favor of the abolition of slavery in Brazil and in the United States, both countries still immersed in slave labor. Analyzed from the perspective of Soren Kierkegaard's Christian existentialist philosophy, the novels approach the subject of the enslaved by a bias that removes the enslaved from the place of nullity and objectification and takes him back to the condition of an individual, paying attention to the constitution of his subjectivity. Christian existentialism permeates the narratives, bringing the idea that making choices is an inherent characteristic of every human being. As the enslaved begins to exercise his condition of subjectivity, he makes choices that are evidenced in the novels. The condition of equality of men finds its basis in the very precepts of Christianity, which is evoked as a factor of sensitization of the reading public. Taking into account the particularities of each territory in the 19th century, the characters reveal characteristics associated with religious morals such as the sacrifice in favor of a brother. For purposes of comparison, the historical and social contexts that led Maria Firmina to silence are also considered, while Stowe reached gigantic proportions, having her book considered the trigger of the American civil war. Everything is done in order to contrast the authors' writing with that of authors from the same period who linked an image of the slave as an executioner, and full of stereotypes that reflected the position of the slave-owning elite regarding the slavery regime. Firmina and Stowe, in the opposite direction, seek the liberation of all enslaved people based on the conditions of equality and solidarity established by Christianity. The analysis of different factors allows analyzing the writing of Firmina and Stowe's novels as truly abolitionist works. In this way, this work is concerned with demonstrating, through comparative analysis, the Christian abolitionist content of Úrsula and A Cabana do Pai Tomás, bringing them together, despite the diverse contexts.