A reinvenção do eu: desdobramentos do fenômeno mnemônico em Dois irmãos e O Vale da Paixão.

Abstract

This Masters Thesis analyzes the formation of the identities of the narrator protagonists of the novels The Brothers (2000), by Milton Hatoum, and The Painter of Birds (1998), by Lidia Jorge. They are Nael and Walter Dias daughter, respectively. Narrators use memory as the main instrument to (re)construct identities silenced and excluded from the familiar narrative. Then, they strive in a narrative work of retrospection, mobilizing memories and negotiating several voices in their speeches. For this investigation it was necessary, therefore, perform a preliminary discussion about the theoretical aspects that structure this research, starting from an anthropological and sociological theoretical contribution. Thus, it was delimited the notion of identity and then it was analyzed the mnemonic phenomenon, key concepts that become work definitions. Then, it was observed how memory is manipulated by the narrators: how they present their memories and use other memories to compose the speech and history itself. Forward, it was verified how memory and identity relate under the theoretical point of view, noticing that this connection is realized by means of narration, analyzed in the last part of the research. The study allows the conclusion that memory is an essential source for identity formation because it allows the subject to narrate his own story attributing new meanings to experiences, which supports a new identity configuration.