Entre literatura e história: a metaficção dos esquecidos em Torto Arado

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the intersection of Literature and History and the concept of the “metafiction of the forgotten” in Torto Arado by Itamar Vieira Junior. The study investigates how literary narratives recover and resignify marginalized memories, offering a critical reflection on traditional historical narratives and establishing a foundation for the metafiction of the forgotten. The general objective is to analyze the relationship between Literature and History in Torto Arado and how the metafiction of the forgotten subverts marginalized subjects. Specifically, it seeks to: discuss the theoretical assumptions of Literature and History from a postmodern perspective; propose a definition for the metafiction of the forgotten to shed light on socially and historically marginalized subjects; and analyze how Santa Rita Pescadeira symbolizes the metafiction of the forgotten, evidencing, from a literary perspective, the visibility given to silenced and erased histories by the dominant discourse. The theoretical basis of the study is developed across three chapters. The first chapter discusses the concepts of Literature and History based on Culler (1999), Acízelo (2007), Eagleton (2006), White (1992), Certeau (2011), Sharpe (1992), Jameson (2002), Hutcheon (1999), Rouanet (2012), Freyre (1993), Ricoeur (1994), Pesavento (2003), Jozef (2005), and Barros (2010). The following chapter addresses metafiction and the visibility of forgotten subjects, presenting Santa Rita Pescadeira as a symbol of the marginalized. The study is grounded in theorists such as Gass (1960), Kerdeman (1991), Johntone (2015), Connor (1993), Hutcheon (1999), Geyh (2003), Fernandez (2012), Waugh (1996), Aristotle (2011), Spivak (2010), Said (1978), Lyotard (2012), Zumthor (1997), Eliade (1992), Lefebvre (1998), and Bhabha (1998). The final chapter focuses on the silence of archives and the importance of fiction as a form of social critique through literature. This chapter highlights contributions from Nora (1984), Halbwachs (1990), hooks (1995), Goff (1990, 2002), Ricœur (1994), Cândido (2000), Burke (1992), Bosi (1994), Halbwachs (1990), Strauss (1962), Veyne (1988), Dalcastagnè (2012), and Ribeiro (2017). Methodologically, the research adopts a basic, qualitative, and exploratory approach, employing bibliographic research and Bardin's (2009) content analysis. Torto Arado is analyzed for its integration of magical realism and poetic prose, highlighting the struggles and resilience of rural workers descended from enslaved people in the Bahian sertão. The study concludes that the work employs the metafiction of the forgotten to challenge and reinterpret historical narratives, proposing new perspectives on Brazil's social and cultural formation. Literature emerges as a form of cultural resistance, reshaping hegemonic narratives and celebrating the resilience of marginalized characters, emphasizing the intrinsic ties between land, identity, and memory.