TERRA SONÂMBULA À LUZ DA ANCESTRALIDADE.

Abstract

The object of this study is the novel Terra Sonâmbula, by Mia Couto, which fictionalizes African traditions and religion, referencing elements such as oral history, the figure of ancestry, magic and the belief in the possibility of interfering in material life through the use of supernatural forces. Our goal is to show how the ancestry is represented in the fictional of Terra sonâmbula. Therefore, we investigate identity, time, space and ancestry as modalities of human experience, worked by the speech of the characters, narrators and voices present in the narrative. We dialogue with authors like Angela Bello (1998), Irene Dias de Oliveira (2002), Ana Mafalda Leite (2003), Rita Chaves (2005), among other views on religion and ancestry, changes related to the colonial period and on the uses and customs, knowledge and techniques of African myths and rites. To explain, in a theoretical way, the presence of the sacred, the profane and questions about the myths, we have Mircea Eliade (2001, 2010, 2012); and to talk about identity and culture, we count on Homi Bhabha (2001), and Stuart Hall (2006). Besides these authors, we also dialogue with scholars who study the work of Mia Couto, with the intention of to identify answers to our questions about Terra Sonâmbula on the light of ancestry which is the subject of this work.