Titularidade da experiência e pós-memória nas literaturas pós-coloniais europeias

Abstract

Este texto analisa, numa perspectiva comparada, uma seleção de obras literárias de Portugal, França e Bélgica, em que o tema da pós-memória no âmbito pós-colonial europeu se apresenta como fulcral para compreender a transmissão do passado colonial. O nosso ponto de partida é um corpus que tem vindo a ser analisado no âmbito do projecto europeu MEMOIRS—Filhos do Império e pós-memórias europeias (Centro de Estudos Sociais, Universidade de Coimbra), financiado pelo Conselho Europeu de Investigação (ERC). O nosso objectivo é o de comentar as diferentes estratégias textuais utilizadas pelos herdeiros destas memórias coloniais para dar conta da apropriação, pela ficção, da experiência traumática. Serão abordadas obras do Português Paulo Faria, do Belga Laurent Demoulin, e dos Franceses Thierry Crouzet e Éric Vuillard.

This paper focuses, from a comparative approach, on a selection of literary works from Portugal, France and Belgium. In these works, postmemory within a European postcolonial scope appears to be as a key element to understand the memories of colonial times transferred into subsequent generations. Considering a corpora studied within European project MEMOIRS — Children of Empires and European Postmemories (Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra) funded by the European Research Council (ERC). We seek to discuss the multiple textual strategies adopted by the offspring of colonial memories in order to achieve the appropriation, through fiction, of the traumatic experience. We will analyse the different ways adopted by the heirs of the traumatic memories in order to achieve the ownership of experience, according to the kind of relationship which may exist with the direct witness. The latter, since the appropriation of the colonial past undertaken by the writers studied here varies depending on whether the transmission corresponds to a biographical or to a cultural scenario. We will therefore study works by Portuguese writer Paulo Faria, by Belgian author Laurent Demoulin and by French writers Thierry Crouzet and Éric Vuillard.