SILVA, Antônia Beserra da.
Abstract:
Analyzing a unique image of the Brazilian Northeast, popular culture and the mythical element formulated from the point of view of the Romance d`A Pedra do Reino narrator and the prince of the back-and-forth blood, this research focuses on myth and messianism, as fundamental themes of the quoted novel of Ariano Suassuna. This work brings together a vast amount of elements that characterize the sertanejo space, in the romanesque setting, as being a trademark of the exaltation of the people and the land of the Sertão. Thus, the focus here is on the exposition of the mythical phenomenon through the Sebastianist rituals practiced in the northeastern backlands, which advocated, among other utopias, the vote of the Portuguese king D. Sebastião, transformed into a symbol of hope for a new and better world. This work aims to understand, in the plane of fiction, the image of a Sertão and a country man, who, despite all difficulties, is capable of a faith that transcends the barriers of the illusory and makes him a kind of warrior, faithful, picaresque, dreamy and strong. In this sense, for a better exploration of the theme, we outline as specific objectives: to identify the strength of the myth in the backcountry society that the work portrays; analyze the consequences of belief in the mythical element as the primordial basis of a transfigured backwoods; realize the influence of the dream on the personality of the narrator; and reflect on the consequences of the author's personal ideologies in the context of his narrative. Thus, to carry out the analysis, we rely mainly on the concepts of myth in Eliade (1972) and Cassirer (1992), Queiroz (2003) considerations on messianism, and Facó (2009), which discusses the social causes of fanaticism in the northeastern backlands. The critics consulted are Cezar (2015), which deals with the mythical backwoods of A Pedra do Reino, and Farias (2006), which analyzes the Suassuna Sertão, emphasizing the “Regional Space, Messianism and Cangaço”. Methodologically, it is bibliographic research and qualitative approach. The research in question results in an understanding of the imaginary richness of Suassuna's novel, which exposes us through a Sebastianist myth to the capacity of the sertanejo man approached by him to make the invisible his source of strength and persistence.
