Literatura afro-americana: relações dialógicas entre os romances The Color Purple, de Alice Walker, e Push, de Sapphire

Abstract

This study is part of the Literature, Comparatism and Social Criticism Research Line, of the Post-graduation Program in Language, at Federal University of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The purpose of the research is to interpret the novels The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, in 1982, and Push, written by Sapphire, in 1996, based on the approximation between the narratives. By focusing attention on African-American literature produced in the 20th century, the objective is broadened, as it seeks to identify thematic recurrences and points of interlocution in the literary glimpse of this corpus. From the analysis carried out, it is evident that the narratives return to American history and build contexts of representation of violence against black women, which remains and is endorsed in the family and in social and institutional relations at different times of the 20th century. Reflections of coloniality operate in oppressive structures that act in the protagonists’ lives through physical and symbolic violence, producing silences, which are related to the way that language is presented in the narratives. The novels exhibit the protagonists' awareness, through the construction of language and shares, which have the sorority and literacy processes as mentors in the characters’ emancipation and freedom. The study allows to affirm that the literary manifestations The Color Purple and Push approach in their themes and, when presenting significant interlacing and dialogue between their narratives, the novels tension the present, challenge for the humanity’ reflection and awareness in face of the different forms of violence that last in societies at different times.