PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - de Souza, Renata Cristine Gomes
TI  - Power, social stratification, and subalternization in two short stories by João Melo
DP  - 2021 Dec 31
TA  - Romanica Olomucensia
PG  - 315--327
VI  - 33
IP  - 2
AID - 10.5507/ro.2021.022
IS  - 18034136
AB  - In this paper, how João Melo's literary project is structured will be discussed from the point of view of a spatial analysis. The short stories "Efeito Estufa" and "O cortejo" bring a type of narrator who exemplifies this way of seeing the city, who weaves information about the characters and the spaces, placing himself as an individual who understands the specificities of what is narrated. This narrator focuses on showing social stratification and subalternization as constructors of society. The discussion proposed by the research is based on understanding how spatial representations reflect violence, disillusionment, and resistance. In this path, it will be observed that such spatial constructions unveil a vision of contemporary Luanda, because they bring a singular view of issues that cross real urban society and, thus, present us with the construction of a critical discourse that is traced through literature. To this end, the study will be based on theoreticians such as Ki-Zerbo, Foucault, and Linda Hutcheon. Through the analysis of the short stories, it will be demonstrated that power moves the relations between subjects and spaces, which, throughout the texts, are presented to another city. Violence and disillusionment manifest themselves in the ways in which the characters live in this city and in the ignorance they have of the place where they live. The conclusion of this study is that from the presentation of borderline situations and the ways of representing the problems and life of society in different spheres there is an expansion of the national theme. In this way, to represent his country João Melo makes use of the elements already mentioned, since these represent the country that can be built after Independence.