Território e identidade negra em Torto Arado

Abstract

This work studies the construction of female identities in the novel Torto Arado (2019) by Itamar Vieira Junior, focusing on the relationship between the fictional subjects and the space represented in the narrative. It also addresses the author's literary project, highlighting common themes among his three novels: Torto Arado, Doramar ou a Odisseia (2021), and Salvar o Fogo (2023). His works represent the challenges faced by Black characters, showing how the effects of the colonial apparatus and religious imposition act against the characters' resistance. Itamar's narratives explore the depths of Brazil, giving voice to issues silenced by the structurally racist colonial system present in Brazilian society. Torto Arado emphasizes the struggles for survival, the fight for land rights, and the unity among community members subjected to exploitation and invisibility. In the process of resisting for the land, the sisters Belonísia and Bibiana change their perceptions of who they are and where they come from, beginning to see themselves not just as daughters of farmworkers, but as Black women and quilombolas belonging to that territory. The construction of this identity process is strongly connected to the ancestry of the workers from Água Negra. The novel Torto Arado enriches Brazilian literature by addressing contemporary themes that problematize black identity, quilombola territory and the need for social justice.