Banca de DEFESA: Ana Clara de Carvalho Brito

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : Ana Clara de Carvalho Brito
DATE: 22/12/2023
TIME: 09:30
LOCAL: Sala 37 do IL
TITLE:

"And am I not a Reader?": In Defense of Reading Failure

KEY WORDS:

"And am I not a Reader?": In Defense of Reading Failure

PAGES: 112
BIG AREA: Lingüística, Letras e Artes
AREA: Letras
SUMMARY:

The reader is an emblematic figure in 19th century literature. Emma Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert (1856), is responsible for crystallizing, in literature, the image of the woman who reads and, in the same proportion, loses herself and causes her own ruin. In order to investigate how the construction of reader characters is carried out, we propose an analysis of the literary route of the first female protagonist of realism, to understand the role of reading – and its effect judged by literary critics as flawed, because it is harmful – not only for the character's path, but also for the representation of contemporary female readers. We start from the hypothesis that Emma Bovary is the precursor – in the conception of Jorge Luis Borges (1952) – of Bella Swan, the protagonist reader of the vampire saga Twilight (2009), responsible for reviving gothic romanticism. When investigating Emma and Bella's reading practices, we suggest an analysis that takes into account three points of connection: (1) the characterization of both as voracious readers; (2) the contrast between realism and romanticism outlined through the characters’ journey; and (3) the distinct nature of the books read by the protagonists: entertainment literature and classics. In a third moment, we try to investigate the relationship between reading and its effects on the construction of loving relationships experienced by women who read, through the careful verification of the constitution of the relationship between Bella and Edward, the ideal craved and never achieved by Emma Bovary. Thus, in this dissertation, we seek to give space to a claim of the possibility of exercising reading as a failed act, denied to women in the 19th century and in contemporary times as well.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externa à Instituição - CLARICE DE MATTOS GOULART - UFGD
Interno - 1388389 - GABRIEL VICTOR ROCHA PINEZI
Presidente - 1247419 - PATRICIA TRINDADE NAKAGOME
Externo à Instituição - Pedro Ivo Rocha de Macedo - MDIC