Identity and african-brazility in becos da memória by Conceição Evaristo

Abstract

Motivated by the interest in studies about Conceição Evaristo’s writing style, the present article aims, by analyzing the novel Becos da Memória (Memory Alleys), originally published in 2006, to identify in which way the recurrent afro-brazilian literary features, as organized by Eduardo de Assis Duarte (2011), show themselves in the Minas Gerais author, and also how they are tied to the specificity of her writing. The novel, as it follows the deconstruction of a slum in a contemporary metropolis, narrates experiences lived by a number of diverse characters, while centering on Maria-Nova, the character responsible for listening to stories and who compromised to share them. By driving away from stereotypes and exoticisms, the author makes her work a place to bring into question the daily reality of that part of the population, while also presenting a new identity for black people in literary space. Therefore, through perceiving how the author relates memory and identity, this article intends to comprehend how the experience-writing, a notorious feature of Conceição Evaristo’s style responsible for converging the individual and collective experiences and the written story, reveals the strategy behind intertwining the author’s voice and perspective – structural elements in afro-brazilian literature – and the questioning of black identity within the thread of literary work.