O Infinito dentro de uma noz: um estudo do Enclausurado de Ian McEwan sob o viés do existencialismo

Abstract

This work consists of an analysis of Ian McEwan's novel Nutshell (2016), from an existentialist perspective, with a focus on Jean Paul Sartre's theory. Throughout the research, the theme was based on the author's own statements that put the narrator of his novel as an existential hero, and as a character who is purely a voice, or a consciousness. The fetus fits the Sartrean theory as the nothingness that precedes being and composes it, possessing an existence that is not yet defined by any essence. The fetus is a being without freedom of action, a Motionless man who is attached to the maternal womb, so he will be defined only after his birth. In addition, the present paper makes a reading of the spatial aspect of the novel, presenting the hypothesis that the intrauterine space in which the fetus lives corresponds metaphorically to the limits of its consciousness. Nutshell was published in 2016 and not many studies have been published about it yet, but for its innovation and the importance of its author in the world literary scene, the novel was object of great attention. This work intended to analyze the novel Nutshell from an existentialist perspective, and perceive how the existence of the fetusis articulated, as well as the correspondence between the narrator's consciousness and the intrauterine space. The analyses presented in this work derive from a detailed reading of its object of study, Nutshell, besides two philosophical books of Sartre (2009) (2014), among other authors and relevant works. The paper presents initially an explanation about the style of the author and his construction of Nutshell, besides addressing the spatial issues. Next, we discuss existentialism in other literary texts, and because it is an adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play, it became necessary to understand how existentialism was introduced in the tragedy. Finally, the history of existentialism until Sartre is presented, and its main concepts are approached, corroborating with the analysis of Nutshell. All the readings presented here lead to the conclusion that the imaginative capacity of the human mind is infinite, and that this is reflected in the literary production itself, for it is in fiction that the consciousness of man is translated into written language, creating an infinite collection of ideas and reflecting about their own condition of existence.