Corpo desfeito, de Jarid Arraes: controle, violência e (re)existência do corpo feminino

Abstract

This master's thesis proposes an analysis of the novel Corpo desfeito, written by the Brazilian author Jarid Arraes. The novel, published in 2022, is examined through a feminist critical-theoretical perspective, seeking to reflect on how patriarchy has historically operationalized power mechanisms that place women in positions of inferiority and invisibility, subjecting them to oppression, control of their bodies, and different forms of violence throughout Western history. The study intends to investigate how the author develops the diverse instances of violence present in the narrative, aiming to debate the aesthetic, ethical and political strategies of the novel, whose textures open up spaces for understanding the literary text as a place of reflection and (re)existence – considering, furthermore, the complexity of factors that permeate women's experiences through an intersectional critical reading. In this regard, this thesis is justified by highlighting, among other issues, the contemporary literature produced by racialized women who discuss inequalities of gender, race, and class and their effects on the formation of social relations. Furthermore, it is relevant because it analyzes violence against dissident bodies from the perspective of women who, in some cases, contribute to the maintenance of patriarchal structures and reinforce violence and oppression within the family environment. The theoretical framework is based on the studies of Michel Foucault (1987), Pierre Bourdieu (2010), Elódia Xavier (2021), Rita Schmidt (2012, 2019), Lia Machado (2000), Carole Pateman (1993), Gerda Lerner (2019), Lúcia Zolin (2009), Constância Duarte (2009), Elaine Showalter (1994, 1999), Sueli Carneiro (2019), Maria Lugones (2020), Lélia Gonzalez (2020), Audre Lorde (2019), Patricia Collins and Sirma Bilge (2021), Carla Akotirene (2019), Cecil Zinani (2011), Regina Dalcastagnè (2012), among others. Throughout the study, the aim is to investigate and discuss the forms of control exercised by the grandmother over the girl's body, the religious symbolism in the work and the process of resistance of the protagonist Amanda.