The double scar: The Brazilian dictatorship and the feminine vocalization of traumatic memory in the work of Ana Maria Machado

Abstract

A double scar, the traumatic experiences of the Brazilian dictatorship and the difficult female vocalization of this memory against oblivion, runs through Ana Maria Machado's two novels, Tropical Sol da Liberdade (1988) and Canteiros de Saturno (1991). As pioneering texts among literary productions written by women, and having as context the lead years and the period of redemocratization, they allow us to affirm the anticipatory role of literature in the restitution and reconstruction of this Brazilian past. At the same time, they also allow us to dismantle and challenge the androcentric tradition of history writing. In particular, the two texts, welding the private with the public and staging or constructing a meta-literary reflection, emphasize the two dimensions of the issue: the search for a form of writing (genre) to tell and build an alternative reading of history and a feminine memory in its specificities of viewpoints and experiences (gender).