A estranha nação de Moacyr Scliar: a ficcionalização de lugares, identidades e imaginários judaicos e brasileiros

Abstract

This dissertation examines the fictionalization of Jewish and Brazilian identities, places and collective imaginary, as portrayed in Moacyr Scliar s Jewish theme novels and short stories. In the introduction section there is a presentation of the general objectives and presuppositions of the work, as well as a suggestion for the division of the literary works in question into 2 phases. Chapter I comprises an analysis of the novels A Guerra no Bom Fim (1972) [ The War at Bom Fim ] and O Exército de um Homem Só (1973) [ The One-Man Army ], assuming that the classical Jewish places are tested in these narratives as sources of inspiration for possible resolutions of the dilemmas aroused in the Brazilian Diaspora and that here there is the beginning of a process of legitimization of the Jewish life in South America. Chapter II comprises an analysis of the short story A Balada do Falso Messias (1976) [ The Ballad of the False Messiah ] and the novel Os Voluntários (1979) [ The Volunteers ], in which the presence of the themes of Messiahnism, Zionism and the role played by Jerusalem in the modern Jewish imagination are examined, testing if the city is still able to supersede the Jewish contemporary imaginary. Chapter III comprises the fictionalization of the Jewish main characters identitarian constructions in the first phase of Scliar s narratives (from 1972 to 1980), based on the notions of hybridism, acculturation and assimilation. In this chapter, the analyses are focused on the main characters of the following novels: A Guerra no Bom Fim, O Exército de um Homem Só, Os Deuses de Raquel (1975) [ The Gods of Raquel ], (O Ciclo das Águas) (1975) [ (The Cycle of the Waters) ], Os Voluntários e O Centauro no Jardim (1980) [ The Centaur in the Garden ]. Chapter IV comprises an analysis of the novel A Estranha Nação de Rafael Mendes (1983) [ The Strange Nation of Rafael Mendes ], attempting to demonstrate that this narrative represents a landmark in Scliar s fictional work, since it is structured in the examination of the Jewish roots of Brazilian culture through the marranos , New-Christians and Cripto-Jews who disembarked in Brazilian lands along with Portuguese people in 1500. The last chapter comprises an analysis of Scliar s second phase narratives, constituted by the novels Cenas da Vida Minúscula (1991) [ Scenes of the Minuscule Life ], A Majestade do Xingu (1997) [ The Majesty of Xingu ] e A Mulher que Escreveu a Bíblia (1999) [ The Woman that Wrote the Bible ]. In this chapter, there is a speculation about the beginning of a construction of a specific Jewish-Brazilian imaginary, embodied by a fusion of typical Brazilian themes and specific Jewish ones; which would be the climax of the process of legitimacy and viability of the Diaspora, opposed to the concrete and reified status acquired by contemporary Israel. In the conclusion section, there is a general evaluation of the dissertation and some considerations about the construction of collective imaginary in Jewish Diaspora in general and in the Brazilian Diaspora specifically