Magaíza na literatura moçambicana

Abstract

This study discusses the problem of the representation of the Magaíza emigrant in Mozambican literature, trying to validate the hypothesis that "The texts demythologize the Magaíza hero" In this context, it interprets poems by Noémia de Sousa and José Craveirinha, as well as short stories by Suleman Cassamo and Aldino Muianga. A brief review of the history of the magaíza and its representation in Mozambican literature is given throughout the research. In addition, the social functions of myth are demonstrated, as well as how myth can produce literary text. The study articulates a range of knowledge as an operative tool to explain the strategies used to demythologize the social image of the hero-Magaíza. The sample shows how the authors of the corpus take the myth and construct new stories, revealing the anti-hero. In this line of demythologizing, N. Frye's concept is used, which allows the myth to be interpreted as an illusion and the tragic experience (accidents, illnesses and deaths) in the mines as disillusionment. The texts show that going to the mines is not a heroic emigration, by disqualifying the protagonist of the process, the magaíza. References abound in the corpus, illustrating their weaknesses in the face of the system that exploits their illusion. (TRADUÇAO NOSSA)