Banca de DEFESA: JOHNNY GLAYDSON DOS SANTOS TAVARES

EXISTENTIAL ANGUISH IN BRAZILIAN SHORT STORIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Munduruku, Polesso and Evaristo

Existential Anguish; Brazilian Literature; Short stories; 21st century.

This dissertation aims, through comparative study and theoretical/bibliographical research, to analyze contemporary short stories by Brazilian authors and discuss the representations of existential anguish based on certain discussions about contemporary times. Initially, we sought to elucidate the concept of existential anguish in the face of problematizations reflected in the tradition of existential philosophy, represented by Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre, since this field is seen recurrently as a reference on the subject. Thus, through this delimitation, relationships that philosophers establish between the phenomenon and subthemes that accompany it will be exposed, such as possibility, authenticity, and freedom. Therefore, guided by the perception that literature (as well as philosophy, but in the area of representation, but not limited to an illustrative function of concepts) also enables a role of deep and essential reflection about anguish, we reflect on the phenomenon and its relationships in the face of three short stories published in the first two decades of the 21st century: Sabedoria das Águas by Daniel Munduruku, Dramaturga Hermética by Natália Polesso, and Beijo na face by Conceição Evaristo. It should be noted, therefore, that the research in the analysis does not point out many examples because the choice for few short stories was done to guarantee what we aim to highlight: the approach to the theme in the short stories, in addition to a simple form of exemplification in the metaphorical area, which they also point to it as something inherent to existence and the human condition. As a result, we intend to point out that literature, and its particularities in the representative area, can help in discussions and understanding about existential anguish in contemporary times, enabling the reader, if they wish, to open paths for confrontations and resignifications in the face of the phenomenon.