Os nevoeiros de José Saramago: questões contemporâneas em Ensaio sobre a cegueira

Abstract

The work of José Saramago is punctuated by the repetition of some terms. With certain frequency, it is possible to find allusions to clouds, fog and mist. These elements often come at significant moments of his novels, which suggests that such inserts are not random. Given the frequency with which mists are present in the authors novels, the question that arises is to what extent this presence can be relevant to the understanding of his work. We come across the work of authors in other fields of knowledge, which somehow addressed the fog theme. Claude Levi-Strauss points out at least two roles for the phenomenon: one disjunctive and other connective. Zygmunt Bauman translates the contemporary social condition that chooses to hide the dangers and its derivatives fears as a form of living in the mist . Guilherme Wisnik proposes a reflection on an aesthetics of mist by analyzing works of art and architecture seeking to break with the immediate recognition of the form, disorienting more than directing, confusing rather than clarifying, hiding more than revealing. There are works of indefinable features, which oppose the contemporary moment of excessive transparency and clearness. In Ensaio sobre a cegueira (Blindness, 1995) Saramago will also point to the contemporary context breaking not only with clarity, but also with vision itself, immersing the characters in a great mist. The goal is to analyze how this rupture with the vision can paradoxically promote a more critical and closer look at the contemporary issues and hence to the human being.