Identidades deslocadas, corpos instáveis: as representações do sujeito contemporâneo em contos de Rubem Fonseca

Abstract

In this study, we carried out the analysis of four short stories of the Brazilian writer Ruben Fonseca. This research was developed from a central element in the texts: the representation of the identity of the characters from the picture of their bodies. We investigated the role of embodiment and interpersonal relationships in the identity construction of these fictional figures as representations of contemporary subjects. The first conceptual foundation was the writings developed by Foucault (1984, 1995) on the historical development of the notion of subject/individual in Western societies. The propositions of Hall (2006) on the route of the subject in the modern period to the present were also guiding. Finally, the concept of individual and contemporary and the relationship between identity and body, presented by Giddens (2002), complement the theoretical. This research highlights the importance of the literature of Fonseca in the dialogue between literary art and Brazilian society of the last decades.