As teias da palavra: análise das estratégias de desconstrução do discurso de nacionalidade na obra de José Eduardo Agualusa

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the studies about the literary work of José Eduardo Agualusa, in particular, as well as about the wide range of conflicting realities that characterize the social fabric of Angola at present. To achieve the proposed objective, we will take into account the relationship between literature and society, considering the author as a spokesman of that dialogue, which, among other aspects, questions whether it is society that influences literature or literature that influences society. We will touch on the themes that stand out throughout his work, such as memory, cultural identity and nationalism, selecting his novel O Vendedor de passados (The Salesman of Times Past) for a more detailed analysis, but taking a look at the author's other novels, emphasizing the correlation between themes and ideas. As much as possible, the history of Angola will be used as support for the understanding of the society that Agualusa depicts, but the analysis will favor support from cultural studies, using as reference such authors as Anderson, Halbwachs, Hall, Hobsbawn, Le Goff, Pollack, and from literary studies by such critics as Eliana L. de Lima Reis, Fernando Mourão, Inocência da Mata, Laura Cavalcante Padillha, Manuel Ferreira. Against this background, obviously open and relative, we intend to - more than affirm notions of value in the work of José Eduardo Agualusa - highlight the contrasts that make up the relevant and disturbing facet of his work, characterized, among other aspects, by the calling in question of well-established boundaries and universally accepted values. The analysis is not designed to exhaust the proposed theme by examining the work of Agualusa, but intends, above all, to provide the elements towards a broader acceptance of the author's work