O legado traumático da escravidão em Torto Arado

Abstract

Slavery in Brazil and its social implications after abolition left profound traumas for the Afro-Brazilian population. In the novel Torto Arado, by Itamar Vieira Júnior, some of these traumas are protrayed through the personal narratives of the sisters Bibiana and Belonísia, culminating in the final chapter narrated by the “enchanted” Santa Rita Pescadeira. This article aims to analyze how cultural trauma is portrayed in the novel, based on the definition of Alexander (2004) and Eyerman (2011; 2019). It is assumed that through references to the history and tradition of a people, the novel emphasizes efforts to maintain and also to extinguish these traditions and the cultural identity of the group, as defined by Hall (1990). By giving voice to the two sisters and to a religious deity, the novel exposes the social reality of a large number of people of African descent in rural communities, still ignored by many in Brazil. Based on the permeability between fiction and reality that the novel presents, the analysis proposes a continuation of the discussion about the legacy of slavery in the country and constitutes an attempt to expand the reflection on the traumas generated by it, as well as the mechanisms of resistance and survival created by these communities as a result.