“A menina suverteu-se” : os sentidos da ausência em "Perpetinha: um drama nos babaçuais", de Carmo Bernardes

Abstract

This research named “The girl has vanished: thesignificances of absence in the novel Perpetinha: um drama nos babaçuais, by CarmoBernardes (1915-1996)” has been developed as a project in Literature and Interculturality for master degree at POSLLI/UEG. Its purpose was to verify why the character Perpetinha isabsent from most of the plot novel, as well as to reflect upon the impact of this absence thatbuilds tension and conflict over the structure of the fiction. All the other characters thatappear in the different narrative plans of the novel, such as the ones that are inspired by realhistorical figures and indigenous people, were also examined. So, it became possible toidentify the lack of Perpetinha with the representation of the absence of some othercharacters, be they indigenous or historic. This research is divided in three chapters: (1) thedescription of biobibliography and critical fortune of the author Carmo Bernardes; (2) thedisclosure of novel-anatomy; (3) the study of the significance of Perpetinha’s absence frommost of the plot and how this literary strategy impacts the narrative. In this way, CarmoBernardes’s work can be examined with an approach still not undertaken by academicstudies, that considers the absence of Perpetinha and also of indigenous characters, as well asthe interpenetration of social aspects that stand out the relationship between indigenous andnon-indigenous characters. It is qualitative descripted research of interdisciplinary andbibliographic purposes based mainly on the Literary theories of Antonio Candido (1989,2004, 2021, 2023), Alfredo Bosi (2021, 2022), Carlos Reis (2018), Giorgio Agamben (2009),Gérard Genette (1972, 1995, 2006) and Edward Morgan Forster (2005), but were alsoconsidered the other researches about Carmo Bernardes’s work, as well as studies fromscholars of different areas, such as Roberto Damatta (2023) and Patrícia de MendonçaRodrigues (2013, 2015). The conclusion is that Perpetinha, despite her absence, is the maincharacter of the novel, so that the traditional model of protagonism can be challenged.