Corpos indomáveis, sujeitos dionisíacos: experiência, corpo e subjetividade na obra de João Gilberto Noll

Abstract

In this dissertation I would like to propose a new affirmative treatment of novelist João Gilberto Noll s narrator-protagonists, taking issue with current literary criticism that would have them belong to a contemporary nihilistic trend, classifying them as weaklings who succumb when faced with the Other, or with the world. Based on an analysis of the novels Hotel Atlântico (1986), Harmada (1993), A céu aberto (1996), Berkeley em Bellagio (2002), Lorde (2004) and Acenos e afagos (2008), Noll s protagonists emerge as strong characters best described as dionysian subjects . Noll s narrator-protagonists relinquish a well defined, fixed identity and consequently renounce all mirrors the mirror of consciousness, identification, or even idealization. Instead of attributing themselves a subjectivity or a face, Noll s protagonists recognize in themselves a level of existence that is primordial: their indomitable body , one that differs from the body/image and a rationale of generalized aesthetics . They reinforce the multiple and unstable character of the subject, one that is moved not by its own volition, but by its will to power . Although the body appears as a recurrent theme in his writings, Noll s novels invite both their narrator-protagonists and the readers to take part in a metaphysical experience