Entre percursos e regressos: formações identitárias na obra de Mia Couto

Abstract

The study presents a reflection on the concept of identity and its compositions, such as national, social, cultural and ethnic identity from the perspective of several different heorists from different areas. From these approaches, in particular the national and cultural identity, the African identity in the postcolonial context is examined, as well as the characterization of that period. For this, it analyzes the identity formations in three central characters of the works A River Called Time, A House Called Earth (2009), The Last Flight of the Flamingo (2005) and The Mermaid’s Other Foot (2006) by the Mozambican author Mia Couto, highlighting the influences of colonization, the contact with another culture and the redemption of native values. The selected characters had the displacement experience and, at some point in their lives, moved away from homeland. These movements direct to the implications and ramifications in the constitution of their identities. Thus, the study shows, the clashes between the European legacy, tradition and global modernity, the identity reconfigurations, and, especially, the emergence of new African cultural subjects.