http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/23838 Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:03:10 GMT 2026-06-11T21:03:10Z http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86716 Título: As figurações de masculinidades no romance oitocentista: um estudo de Úrsula, de Maria Firmina dos Reis Autor(es): Coriolano, Mariana Matos Abstract: This study delves into the representation of masculinities in Maria Firmina dos Reis's nineteenth-century novel Úrsula (1859), seeking to unveil the complex figurations of masculinity within the work. The research proposes an in-depth analysis of the male characters, such as Tancredo, his father, Túlio and Fernando P., in light of the theories of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities, as outlined by Raewyn Connell, an Australian sociologist, in her seminal work Masculinities (2005), which is crucial for investigating the different masculine types present in the fabric of social relations and gender hierarchies. The primary aim is to identify how Firmina, a black woman, teacher, and staunch abolitionist, subverts the romantic conventions of her time, offering a multifaceted view of gender, race, and class relations in slave-owning Brazil. The methodology employed combines meticulous literary analysis with a historical and sociological perspective. It investigates the psychological construction and actions of the male characters, observing how their behaviors reflect or challenge the ideals of "being a man" in the nineteenth century. The research draws upon a theoretical framework that includes studies on the social phenomenon of violence and male domination, from both theoretical and literary standpoints, anchoring itself in Kimmel (1998), Nolasco (1993), Cunha (2021), Cecchetto (2004), and Connell (2005), among others, to contextualize masculinities within Brazilian imperial society and literature. The results of the analysis reveal that Firmina not only portrays but also critiques nineteenth-century masculinities. Tancredo emerges as a "subversive emotional masculinity," prioritizing affection and vulnerability, in contrast to his father's tyranny. Túlio, the enslaved character, represents a "black masculinity" that, despite oppression, maintains his dignity and humanity, challenging the dehumanization imposed by white hegemony. Fernando P., in turn, embodies "dominant masculinity," marked by violence, possession, and destruction, symbolizing the brutality of the slave-owning patriarchy. It is concluded that Úrsula is a pioneering work in giving voice to historically marginalized individuals and in denaturalizing gender and racial hierarchies. Through her male characters, the author exposes the fissures of the patriarchal and slave systems, revealing that male domination is not monolithic but a complex and contestable social process. This work aims to contribute to the research field on masculinities in Brazilian literary studies, highlighting the timeless relevance of Maria Firmina dos Reis's work for understanding social and gender dynamics in Brazil. Tipo: Dissertação Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86716 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86710 Título: Simetrias inesperadas: a história não-dita do Memorial de Aires, de Machado de Assis Autor(es): Morais, Nicole Dourado de Abstract: This research undertakes an analysis of Machado de Assis’s final novel, Memorial de Aires (1908), advancing the idea that his late work displays an original compositional technique. Often regarded as the most unconventional among Machado’s novels, Memorial de Aires may be characterized above all by the silence that permeates it and renders it a singular work. We argue that, precisely because it is a “silent” narrative, it has often been pointed out how difficult it is to assign a clear “subject” to the novel. Conversely, it is precisely the “subject” — or rather, the work’s “inner and singular thought” — that is foregrounded in the prologue, entitled “Advertência”. In examining the narrative’s composition, we therefore consider the following elements: a preconceived notion of “subject” and a specific mode of narration through which the fictional author and the characters produce “blank spaces”, extended into a distinctive mode of punctuation by means of ellipses. By denaturalizing the term “subject” and emphasizing the elliptical character of the work, this study seeks to address what remains unsaid in the narrative and what, repressed, seems to find paths of elaboration in the suggestions conveyed by the ellipses, digressions, and other fractures forged by the text. Our hypothesis is that these silences invariably respond to a specific “subject”: the fate of the formerly enslaved people after Abolition. Indeed, although the narrative time frame encompasses the years 1888 and 1889, the novel was published twenty years after the period it depicts, and Memorial de Aires appears to revisit and work through the silence that marked the final quarter of the 1800s. Despite the fact that the narration unfolds in the months preceding and following Abolition, amid the imminence of the proclamation of the Republic, the historical element is erased from the narrative and rejected by the voices within it. While, on the surface of Counselor Aires’s diary, there is a recurring focus on private experience, suggesting a form of enclosure that even hinders the elaboration of form itself, we argue that, at a different level of depth, this other “subject” resides. In order to narrate it, that is, to lend density to a theme that cannot properly be spoken except through silence, Machado employs certain fictional strategies, which are examined in this study. Through what we term “unexpected symmetries”, that is, dialectical movements that correspond to one another within the narrative, and through the action and presence of a new fictional instance, the editor, we contend that a historical subplot is bound to the main narrative. In this way, Machado de Assis, in his late style, not only fictionalizes a social truth, insofar as silence mimics the ways in which Brazilian elites sought to erase the memory of slavery, but also articulates narrative forms capable of addressing this very unacknowledged subject. Tipo: Dissertação Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86710 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86686 Título: “E serei eu uma crítica literária?”: espaços críticos-ficcionais na escrita de Virginia Woolf Autor(es): Rocha, Diego dos Santos Abstract: The artistic production of Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), during the first half of the 20th century, subverts conventions from English Realism to declare itself modern, privileging the representation of human subjectivity and (un)consciousness. Whether in her works of fiction or non-fiction, it is possible to observe the development of writing as a space for rupture, conveying her worldview about the aesthetic creation of her time. This work, of an analytical and interpretative nature and based on a comparative approach between tradition and the new, aims to analyze how Virginia Woolf establishes herself as a literary critic and constructs this critical perception through different genres. First, we investigate the author’s Diaries (1920-1930) and how she addresses the connections between “everyday writing” and “literary writing”, evoking the narrow relationship between life and fiction. Further on, we examine nine essays from The common reader (1925), the first collection she organized, to understand how she addresses the tensions between tradition and modernity, the formation of the English novel, and the dialogue with her contemporaries. Then, we analyze how Woolf’s assertions reverberate in the novel Orlando: a biography (1928), which transfigures her position on the rise of modern literature and paves the way for posterity. Considering the diary-essay-fiction triad as a set of interrelated hybrid genres, we draw on contributions from authors such as Hermione Lee (1977), Massaud Moisés (2007), Sandra Guardini Vasconcelos (2007), Philippe Lejeune (2014) and Silviano Santiago (2019). Based on the reflections presented, it can be concluded that Woolf’s literary criticism is developed through different forms of writing that impact on each other to structure a project that explores the expanding realm of modern fiction, deepening discussions on memory, criticism, poetic creation, among other categories, in the scope of comparative literature. Tipo: Dissertação Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86686 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86642 Título: Narrar para não desaparecer: corpo, silêncio e memória em O Conto da Aia Autor(es): Gomes, Thaís Pereira Tipo: Dissertação Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/86642 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z