Femininity and transgression a reading of Lúcio Cardosos prose.

Author(s)

Elizabeth da Penha Cardoso

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2010-11-08

Examining board members

Cleusa Rios Pinheiro Passos; Ruth Junqueira Silviano Brandão; Marcos Antonio de Moraes; Maria Cecilia Queiroz de Moraes Pinto; Esio Macêdo Ribeiro

• Advisor: Cleusa Rios Pinheiro Passos

Abstract

The present study is dedicated to the interpretation of Lúcio Cardosos prose (1912 -1968) and it is guided by the feminine character, due to its constant presence and importance in the authors works. The thesis starts with the main idea that the figure of the woman constitutes the expressive part of his artistic production. It is, at the same time, the question and the answer to understand Cardosos novels. At least three aspects contribute to this effect: the expressive number of feminine characters in the titles, the central place of the feminine, in parallelism with the option for the interiorized tension in the prose, and the femininitys influence in the course of the narratives. Lúcio Cardoso elaborates his texts on the dissatisfaction of the feminine characters, generating transgression; on womens evil behavior, aiming to the destruction of the status quo; and on multiplicity, linked with the non-definition of the feminine, creating a fiction full of ambiguity and misconceptions. The corpus was selected aiming to include a representative book of each decade (1930, 1940, and 1950) of Lúcios production. They are novels that, simultaneously, deal with recurrent themes and condense the period of time analyzed in the study. In this way, Mãos vazias (1938), Inácio (1944), and Crônica da casa assassinada (1959) constitute the first plan, with an in-depth textual analysis, and the other titles aim to develop intensive dialogues to approach them. The readings had been supported by the intersection with the psychoanalysis and history, always aiming to improve the interpretation of the literary text. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 06/02454-5 - Female characters in Lucio Cardoso work
• Grantee: Elizabeth da Penha Cardoso
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate