Hierarquia e patriarcado: análise das personagens femininas em Nihonjin, Oscar Nakasato

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze female characters in the contemporary novel Nihonjin (2011) by the Japanese-Brazilian writer Oscar Nakasato, seeking to point out the conflicts of interest that occur with them within a patriarchal system in which roles are predefined. For this study, in addition to other works, the theoretical discussions present in A Elite do Atraso (2019) by Jessé Souza, A Permanência do Círculo (1987) by Roberto Reis, Mulheres de Papel (1996), by Luís Felipe Ribeiro, Histórias intimas: sexualidade e erotismo na história do Brasil, by Mary Del Priore (2011), Imigração japonesa na história contemporânea do Brasil, by Arlinda Rocha Nogueira (1984) are employed. Nihonjin is narrated from the perspective of a Japanese grandson, and this novel is set in the mid-twentieth century and is presented in a fragmented manner. In the novel, readers follow the challenges of the protagonist Hideo - who immigrates from Japan to Brazil - in the face of cultural difficulties he confronts in the new country and his troubled relationship with his daughter Sumie, who transgresses the patriarchal values in which her father believes and practices. In summary, we seek to discuss the persistence of hierarchy among the characters in the novel and the continuity of patriarchal values in contemporary Brazilian society.