O imigrante em Portugal : uma análise literária sobre a condição migrante das personagens Boa Morte, de Maremoto, e Gisberta, de Pão de Açúcar

Abstract

This research presents a literary analysis of the characters Boa Morte, from Maremoto, and Gisberta, from Pão de Açúcar, as illegal immigrants in Portugal, situated in two different time periods: the colonial era and the contemporary period. The main objective is to identify, among the characters' identity and national traits, those that both resemble and differentiate them, including the context of temporal difference. The specific objectives are directed at the constructive aspects of the characters: who they are, the roles they play in the narrative, how they relate to the place where they immigrated to, whether they suffer violence and what kinds, and how colonial relations interfere, or not, with their ways of existing. Regarding the theoretical framework, the focus is on studies of identity by Stuart Hall and Homi K. Bhabha; colonialism and postcolonialism by Eduardo Lourenço, Inocência Mata, and Aimé Césaire; migration studies by Zygmunt Bauman and Eric Landowski; and the phenomenon of violence by Maria Cecília Minayo, Helrison Costa, Jaime Ginzburg, and Achille Mbembe. In addition, studies on race and gender also contribute to the analysis, as Boa Morte is Black and Gisberta is a travesti (a term used in Latin America to describe individuals with a non-binary gender identity and a feminine expression), with contributions from Frantz Fanon, Silvério Trevisan, Judith Butler, and Letícia Nascimento. Through the analysis of similarities, it was possible to observe that both characters suffer violence stemming from their status as illegal immigrants, a colonial implication, and lack basic rights. This led them to poverty, which marginalized them to the point of becoming victims of multiple forms of violence by different perpetrators. Regarding the differences, Boa Morte experiences racial violence for being an assimilated individual in Portugal, while Gisberta suffers gender-based violence, both verbal and physical. However, among the two characters, only Gisberta is annihilated due to her gender identity, which is considered an aggravating factor in her condition. Therefore, as a result, it was possible to understand that an impossibility of coexistence occurs between the "other" (the immigrant characters) and the "self" (the Portuguese society portrayed in each book), due to both colonial and individual issues