O amor e as representações do feminino em Bocas de mel e fel, de Nilza Rezende

Abstract

The trajectory of female authorship in Brazilian literature is marked by declines and peaks that are closely linked to the history of women in society. From 1960 onwards, narratives that make women the central element of the plot appear in national written production with more scope to present and discuss the female universe from a perspective of breaking the stereotypes socially rigidified by the patriarchal system. Thus, in the context of postmodernity, a group of female writers emerges who are tasked with challenging the country's literary parameters with a view to achieving a reformulation in the framework of Brazilian literary writing. In Bocas de mel e fel (2011), by Nilza Rezende, the protagonist, Irene, mimics the typical woman of contemporary times, in her identity construction and performance, in the face of a romantic relationship, tainted with eroticism, experienced with two men, her cousin, Antônio, and the university professor, Pablo. In this regard, this study has as its main objective: to analyze the representations of the feminine and the faces of love in Bocas de mel e fel (2011). To this end, the research, with a qualitative and theoretical approach, seeks to analyze the text of the aforementioned author based on the principles of Textual Criticism in line with the application of theories based on Cultural Studies, with the aim of carrying out a complete interpretation of the literary text, respecting its artistic character. The theoretical contribution used to support the discussions, about the perspectives of Feminism and Female Authorship in Brazil, brings together authors such as Hooks (2019; 2024); Duarte (2003); Xavier (1996) and Zinani (2011). Furthermore, to address the representations of the feminine in the analyzed text, the conceptual contributions of Kolontai (2009); Teixeira (2009); Zolin (2009) and Hall (2006) and, to support the considerations made about the faces of love in the plot, we used the epistemologies of Paz (1994); Bauman (2004); Costa (1998); Menezes (2007); Oltramari (2009); Almeida and Lomônaco (2018) and Neves (2007). The results pointed out in the analysis of the studied narrative express the identity fragmentation of the character Irene justified by the social context of postmodernity, being possible to classify her as a woman of the transitory type (Cf. Kolontai, 2009). In addition, it was also possible to verify, in this analysis, the presence of two faces of love personified in the subjects with whom the protagonist relates, namely romantic love and confluent love. Notably, between the honey and the bile of the loving relationship is the woman in search of the resignification of her own identity.