The Suspended in Remembered Loss: A Reading of Melancholy in Fazes-me Falta, by Inês Pedrosa

• Grant number: 24/17308-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Literature Theory
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Marinho Laks
• Grantee: Sidney Prando Lindini
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project, based on the novel Fazes-me Falta by the Portuguese writer Inês Pedrosa, aims to propose an analysis of the investigation into the constant behavior of mnemonic effort as an alleviator of the male character's melancholic state in the face of the loss of a loved one. The objective of this research is to analyze the construction of melancholy and its 'painful dejection' (Freud, 2010) stemming from the pain experienced by the one who remains, as a result of the constant exercise of turning to the past in order to remember the lost object, his friend. In this instance, the investigation will primarily rely on two guiding texts (Ricoeur, 2014; Freud, 2010).In a second phase, through the reading of the highlighted work within the literary landscape of contemporary Portuguese fiction, I intend to reflect on the role of memory in considering the Colonial Wars in Africa, Salazarism, and the identity formation of the decadent Portuguese citizen on the margins of Europe. These themes lead us to consider not only the process of constructing the Portuguese novel (Hutcheon, 1991; Real, 2012), but also a new image of Portugal. Generally, the aim is to reflect on memory and its role within the fictional novel to contemplate contemporaneity.