Vidas matáveis em Cornélio Penna

Abstract

This thesis aims to understand the biopolitical devices which underpin power relations in the work of Cornélio Penna and, from the paradigm of Homo sacer, interpret the reverberations of this writing/reading gesture of the world in the formation of a national memory. The research approaches the “killable” condition of some characters, mainly female figures and enslaved individuals, in order to problematize the functioning of death-life relationships and their expansion from the intimate economy to public relations. The contributions of other scholars were considered about the work of Penna, the reflections presented here have theoretical support in the thoughts of Giorgio Agamben, Roberto Esposito and Michel Foucault. In the first stage, a critical review of the novels was carried out, whose privilege was given to studies which engaged with thinking about the life/death pair linked to the political and social developments contained in the narratives. Then the goal was to demonstrate how some devices operate, in particular marriage, in which it would be the best over image from the intersection about life and politics in the author's four books. In the sequence the study focused on life which may be killed but not sacrificed of the enslaved individual and the way they use testimonies to counter the violence of slave instruments and the way how they use testimonies to oppose the violence of slave instruments. Lastly, taking Penna as an interpreter of Brazil, the thesis stands up for the possibility of death and its expansions of meaning being the form of deactivation of the biopolitical machine inherent in narratives, whereas they can also be the means of provoking the collective thoughtlessness to admit the contingent character of Brazilian miscegenation, opposite to what other interpreters point out. It is estimated that this comparative research allows testing new possibilities of study between literature and biopolitics, as well as providing more accurate readings of Brazilian history and society.