Uma Loja, Dois Quartos: Poder e Sedução em Dois Irmãos de Milton Hatoum

Abstract

This paper explores how space shapes the plot of the novel “The Brothers” (2000), written by Manaus-born author Milton Hatoum. The objective of this research is to draw a parallel between the trajectory of Halim, the family patriarch, and his daughter Rânia, using space as a reading parameter. In order to accomplish this goal, the paper will present the relationship between these characters and two spaces: their bedrooms and the family store, focusing on how they exercise their power and seduction in these spaces. This text is theoretically based on: (PERRONE- MOISÉS 2000 and 1990; PELLEGRINI 2004; BRANDÃO 2005 and 2013; MACHADO 1979; FOUCAULT 2009; BARTHERS 2004). The methodology of this work consists of presenting the interaction between the elements of character and space based on Halim and Rânia. First by addressing the father's spaces, his room, the store, and the bars in the Educandos neighborhood, showing how, over the course of the novel, the decline of his power in family relationships is related to the loss of these spaces. Then addressing the daughter's spaces, her room, the store inherited from her father, and Nael's tales, showing how seduction is an important element in the development of the character and her spaces. To address the notion of space, Luis Alberto Brandão and Micheal Foucault are discussed, while the themes of power and seduction are considered based on texts by Roberto Machado, Roland Barthes, and Leyla Perrone-Moisés. Although the three notions and theories sometimes overlap, the results of this study ultimately aim to demonstrate how the space of the novel contributes to the construction of plots, the formation of characters, and, without dismissing this interpretation, the perspective of literary analysis to reach its space of fruition.