Poesia, memória e dizeres : um estudo nas obras Areôtorare e Sarobá, de Lobivar Matos

Abstract

In Areôtorare (1935) and Sarobá (1936), Lobivar Matos presents a poetry that brings elements that reveal the evils of a social context, which were not very common in the literary productions that appeared in Mato Grosso on the first half of the 20th century, a period in which poems based on an exotic and romanticized vision that praised subjects and the state's natural landscapes prevailed. Against the backdrop of the Mato Grosso poetic style of his time, Lobivar Matos became one of the pioneers to cry out in favor of marginalized and socially neglected groups, equaling writers of national recognition, such as Manuel Bandeira, Monteiro Lobato, and others. In view of this, we have invested special attention to the poems in which the woman, in some cases the black woman, appears as the leitmotif of her verses. Thus, we analyze the representation of women in poems like “Lavadeiras”, from the book Areôtorare (1935), “Maria Bolacha” and “Mulata Isaura”, from Sarobá (1936). In addition to these we examine “O pequeno engraxate”, from Areôtorare (1935) and “Negrinho lambido”, from Sarobá (1936), in which we see the child as a victim of violence and social injustices. In addition to the attention focused on these, other poems were brought in dialogues with the respective themes addressed. Our analytical focus, therefore, is based on the reflection of the different forms of violence poetically presented in each of these poems, seeking to establish a dialogical relationship between their approaches. Throughout our analysis, we sought support from some theorists and critics of the poetry genre, of engaged literature, and of post-colonial studies, so that we could understand the power relations that are imbricated in the poems' development. In this study we also took into consideration the premise that: it’s a fact that even today we are still bothered by elements arising from racist legacies that probably emerged in a period known historically as the “great navigations” (QUIJANO, 2005, p.117), especially with the achievement of this venture through colonial occupation. The memory of such an event, even today, haunts us, worries us and instigates us to investigate the consequences of colonial forces still active in our society, even if under other forms, such as the act of exploitation, oppression and violence of groups that perceive themselves as superior to others.