A intelectualidade popular em dois romances africanos de língua portuguesa

Abstract

The article aims at analyzing the critical behavior of characters in two African novels written in Portuguese: Régulo Bsum Nanki, of the novel A última tragédia, and Arcanjo Mistura, of the novel O outro pé da sereia. Firstly we consider the way they socially interact so as to eventually analyze the critical discourse they reveal as popular characters. For that purpose, we have mainly drawn from Said’s (1994) and Santos’s (2000) theories. Concerning the racial issue the characters arise, we have concluded that the question may be considered in a different perspective as it transcends the binary oppositions that have usually characterized the racial debates since the colonizing process suffered by the Southern countries. This new approach gets materialized in Arcanjo Mistura’s discourse, which currently resonates Barack Obama’s inaugural address, despite Régulo’s bipolarized emphasis; a fact justified by his being a character belonging to an older historical time. It is relevant to point out that the new focus on the issue appears as a consequence of the emergence of rebellious subjectivities who believe the future may be changed, thus giving life to a more active and ambiguous hope, which may result in present action, aiming to modify what lies in a moment beyond.