"Pancadas surdas do coração”: homoerotismo e culpa em O desconhecido, de Lúcio Cardoso

Abstract

Based on the assumption that literature constitutes a field of disputes for access to voice, for the circulation of representations of the world and for public and critical recognition, it is understood that, in Brazil, it has historically been invested with the role of the vector of national identity. In this context, the presence of homoeroticism in Lúcio Cardoso's novel O desconhecido (1940) is revealed through the articulation between literature, religiosity, and moral repression, inscribing itself in a symbolic and political field in which various voices have been historically silenced, including homoerotic narratives. The objective of this study is to understand how Cardoso's fiction represents homoerotic desire amid social and religious prohibitions, exploring the forms of subjectivity constructed by silence, ambiguity, and introspection. The method adopted combines textual analysis of the work with a critical dialogue with theorists such as Jurandir Freire Costa, Michel Foucault, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, John Boswell, and João Silvério Trevisan, whose contributions allow us to situate the tension between homoeroticism and christian-guilt. It can be observed that the figure of the “desconhecido” protagonist embodies a subject torn by inner turmoil, guilt, and desire, reflecting the effects of the internalization of religious morality on homoerotic subjectivity. It can be concluded that the analysis of homoeroticism in O desconhecido highlights not only the repressive force of Christian tradition in Brazilian literature, but also the creative power of dissimulation, which transforms silence into a space for aesthetic and political expression. by reintegrating historically marginalized voices into literary criticism, the study contributes to the expansion of the canon and the recognition of homoerotic literature as a legitimate part of Brazilian cultural identity