No rastro do outro, nos restos de mim: rubricar o irmão, esconder Narciso

Abstract

The works analyzed in this study are Julián Fuks's A Resistência (Companhia das Letras, 2015) and Luiz Ruffato's De mim já nem se lembra (2007, Editora Moderna; definitive version in 2016, Companhia das Letras). Our starting point is the attempt to understand the role of family memory in constructing autofictional narratives. These narratives blur the boundaries between reality and fiction, revealing other transgressed limits when the subject becomes the discourse’s referent. Reception, oscillating between real and fictional ele-ments, inherent to autofiction, may be enhanced by traces of authorial identity or by other elements that guarantee an ambiguous pact. Would family memory be one of these ele-ments supporting the reception of the works? Based on Philippe Gasparini’s (2004) investi-gative question, “Is it the author recounting their life or the fictional character?”, we devel-oped our analytical approach to contemporary autofictional works. Both novels share a common theme: correspondence with siblings, who become the reason for writing and the psychological and emotional locus of the narrative. Our reading hypothesis affirms that the plots of A Resistência and De mim já nem se lembra use language to elaborate memory, seeking in the depiction of siblings – one who isolated himself and another who passed away – the recognition of the self. Narrating the other, thus, exposes the folds of one’s own physiognomy.