As interseccionalidades de raça, classe social e gênero em Clara dos Anjos : um romance de realidades e denúncias

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the novel written by Afonso de Lima Barreto, Clara dos Anjos, considered the author's masterpiece, published posthumously in the same year of his death, 1922. The text tells the trajectory of an unsuccessful novel between the homonymous protagonist from the title of the work and Cassi Jones, from the meeting between the two in the celebration of the young Clara's birthday. The young and beautiful mestizo, according to the author's description, from a poor family, living in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, grows up under the excessive care of her mother who, instead of preparing her for the harsh reality of women in her social condition, contributes to her Clara's naivety and unpreparedness in the face of life's dangers. The novel narrates the painful maturation process of the protagonist who has a conscience after being deceived and abused by the vile antagonist Cassi Jones, who leaves her pregnant. Our analysis focuses on how the form and structure of this novel, more particularly the plot, the construction of characters and space, represent prejudices of race, social class and gender. The study hypothesis is that the intersection of race, gender and social class constitutes the effective success factor of Cassi Jones' harmful actions, in opposition to Clara's failure and disillusionment, evidencing class contradictions and a structural racism of a postcolonial patriarchal society, which last until the present day. This research has a bibliographic nature and a qualitative method, supported by studies that theoretically support the themes and concepts addressed, among which we highlight those of Antonio Candido, Del Priore, Kilomba, Lins, Schwarcz and Sevcenko.