Trajetos literários em perspectiva: entre a épica camoniana e a reescrita contemporânea na obra Uma Viagem à Índia, de Gonçalo M. Tavares

Abstract

This thesis conducts an analysis of the work Uma Viagem à Índia (2010) by the Portuguese writer Gonçalo M. Tavares, focusing on intertextuality and the theme of the travel. The book emerges from the author's strategies to revisit literary tradition and the canon, promoting an intertextual game with Os Lusíadas (1572) by Luís de Camões . It is evident that in Uma Viagem à Índia, the travel multiplies and unfolds from the one that originated from the famous "Ocidental praia Lusitana" mentioned in Camões epic poem. The analysis points out that the use of the epic form also plays an essential role in the construction of the character in Bloom's story, which in itself translates the dialogue with tradition and also points out that he departs from Lisbon towards India, driven by the desire for forgetting and wisdom. Thus, the thesis highlights that Tavares’ work consists of a triple travel. Firstly, an intertextual travel through literature itself, especially with the intertextual network with Camões , which establishes a parricide tension between breaking with tradition and simultaneously revering it. Secondly, a physical travel undertaken by Bloom, following a route distinct from that traced in Os Lusíadas, while reflecting on the history narrated by Camões and, by extension, Portugal’s history. Thirdly, an inner or psychological journey that represents Melancolia contemporânea (um itinerário), reflecting the feelings of the protagonist, who already embarks afflicted by melancholy, as a state of mind. In this analysis, it is observed that Bloom's travel deviates from the one made in Os Lusíadas and points to a sort of anti-bildungsroman, reflecting that at the end of the travel, he does not harmonize with the world, because Bloom does not flourish. Thus, this study points out that when we read the tourist (Bloom) from the perspective of the hero, following the conjectures of the hero's journey by Campbell ([1949], 1995), the travel literature text does not always align with this ideology, culminating in the narrative's conclusion with the suspension or denial of the transformation ritual.