A(s) performance(s) do desejo: ensaio sobre o espaço a partir de O quarto de Giovanni, de James Baldwin

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate the relationship between space, homoerotic desire, and performance in James Baldwin's novel Giovanni’s Room. Narrated in the first person, the story follows the tension-filled journey of David, an American living in Paris who becomes romantically involved with Giovanni. The narrative shifts continuously between past and present, establishing a "pact," a dialogue, or a nearly theatrical game between reader and narrator, which enriches the reading experience and makes it deeply immersive. Through this research, I explore how space, far from being a mere backdrop, acts as a constituent element in the experience of desire, drawing parallels between public and private, interior and exterior, time, memory, the body, and territory. The adopted methodology is narrative, structured in essay format and written in the first person. It incorporates autobiographical texts that dialogue directly with the novel and the theoretical framework, particularly with authors such as Milton Santos (2009; 2011), Leda Maria Martins (2011; 2021), Audre Lorde (2019), among others. Performance emerges not only as an analytical category but also as a method, bridging experience, reading, and knowledge production. By centering a Black critical perspective, I reflect on the ways body, territory, desire, and space interrelate, turning literature into a space for elaborating possibilities of existence.