Os miseráveis na obra de Euclides Neto: uma leitura de Machombongo

Abstract

The objective proposed in this thesis is to analyze the constitution of the figure of the wretched in the book Machombongo (2014), by Euclides Neto, in order to understand the various representations of these subjects in the cocoa crop space of southern Bahia. The investigation of the wretched intends, through the sterile resourcesof the novel, to give voice and visibility to the less favored. During the reading and analysis of the novel we perceive that it is articulated to the following postulates: to the theories of literary studies, to the knowledge of history, to theories of sociology, to the conceptions of geography and to other epistemological knowledge. In this study, we hypothesized that there would be an engaged writing by Euclides Neto, revealing the struggle for the survival of characters marked by the misery and oppression of the oligarchies. The research is structured in four chapters, in addition to the introduction and the final considerations. In the first part, we present the life of the author Euclides Neto, in its various aspects, such as his performance in the various areas – politics, law, pioneer of the agrarian reform of Ipiaú (BA), and also as a writer. In addition, we present their friendships and the way the author fought to help the less favored of cocoa swiddens. In the second chapter, we analyze the way the wretched were represented in history and literature, seeking to understand the position that these excluded assume in society and the way they are treated by the population, in which they are inserted. In the third, we point out the structural, diegetic, time and spatial elements of the work, in addition to verifying the way the aggregates lived in the rural environment, as well as the process of servitude and the violence that suffered there. In the last chapter, we intended our reflections to represent the female figure and child labor in crops. In this part, we problematize the violence that women suffered, including objectification. Moreover, we verified the exploitation of miserable children in monoculture, without being recognized as infant subject, a common practice nowadays. In the final considerations, we show the results about the hypothesis we present, proving that Euclides Neto is an engaged writer, who sought to give voice and visibility to the wretched cocoa crops. Thus, through his writing, when describing the meetings that involved workers, the ecclesiastical community and activists, as well as complaints in the labor union, the author contributes to broaden the critical-reflexive view of the reader, about the social problems of his time.