From Childhood to Youth in Noturno sem Música, by Gilvan Lemos

Abstract

The representation of the stages of human life is one of the main aspects of the work of the Brazilian writer Gilvan Lemos. Lemos’s first novel, Noturno sem Música, contemplates such a problem. Jonas, a first person narrator, is also the main character of the narrative. He shows the odds of growing, as well as the generation conflicts caused by it. By following the author’s career, a critical perusal of the novel is made. The investigation concentrates on the perceptions of the narrator and of the protagonist about themselves and about the elder; in a mode which contrasts past and present. Childhood, youth and old age are problematised with the help of studies by Buenaventura Delgado (1998), Bosi (1987) and Elias (2001). Narrative time is characterised with the contribution of Mendilow (1972) and Pouillon (1974).