Fragmentos do insólito: uma análise comparativa dos contos “Bruja”, “Carta a una señorita en París” e “Ómnibus”, de Julio Cortázar

Abstract

The present study carries out a comparative analysis of the short stories “Bruja” (1943), “Carta a una señorita en París” (1951) and “Ómnibus” (1951), by Julio Cortázar, with the purpose of investigating the distinct manifestations of the uncanny as a narrative strategy in the construction of each text. The research is justified by the relevance of the uncanny as an aesthetic and literary category, as well as by the importance of Cortázar in twentieth-century Latin American literature. The main objective is to examine how the author articulates the uncanny in each short story, mapping both convergences and divergences among the texts. The adopted methodology is qualitative and analytical-interpretive in nature, based on bibliographic research and critical reading of the selected stories, relying mainly on theorists such as David Roas, Tzvetan Todorov, Jaime Alazraki, and Flávio Garcia. The analysis reveals that, although all three stories inscribe the uncanny within everyday space, each text does so through distinct strategies and atmospheres, responding to different modes of estrangement and different relationships between narrator, characters, and the uncanny phenomenon. In this sense, the results show that this strategy goes beyond a merely aesthetic effect, operating as a mechanism for destabilizing the certainties that structure the perception of reality. It is thus concluded that the exploration of ambiguity constitutes a central element of Cortázar's poetics, contributing to the singularity and enduring relevance of his work within the context of Latin American literature.