This thesis presents an analysis of the novel O Retorno by Dulce Maria Cardoso. The subject of the novel is a family which was forced to leave Angola where they had lived for a very long time and now have to “return” to Portugal. Like many other “retornados” they find the process very difficult. The hypothesis of the paper is that during the first period, as described in the novel, the experience can be compared to that of refugees even if “retornados” nominally are Portuguese citizens and speak Portuguese. In the analysis models elaborated by Juris Rozītis in Displaced Literature: images of time and space in Latvian novels depicting the first years of the Latvian postwar exile (2005) has been used. The conclusion is that the model based on “retornados” experiences in the novel compares well with that of refugees. There even is a clear delimitation between “retornados” and Portuguese society. The “fence” is not physical as was the case with the post-World War II refugee camps but instead mental. For being immaterial it is no less real. The main character finds himself in a limbo between a world that has already disappeared, his native Angola, and a world that is not willing to accept him and which he, as consequence, is not willing to accept. He also exists in a limbo between being a child and an adult.  In both cases he is incapable of exiting the limbo by himself.

Submitted by Josimara Dias Brumatti (bcgdigital@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-03-09T17:02:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Maricel PDF.pdf: 20452247 bytes, checksum: 38a40f204dc4fe3e3750e95fad91f8c1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-09T17:02:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Maricel PDF.pdf: 20452247 bytes, checksum: 38a40f204dc4fe3e3750e95fad91f8c1 (MD5) / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo o estudo de dois romances: Caderno de memórias coloniais e O retorno, de Isabela Figueiredo e Dulce Maria Cardoso, respectivamente, ambas autoras contemporâneas portuguesas que, quando crianças, viveram a experiência da colonização em África e retornaram à ex-metrópole após a descolonização. Além de abordarem o mesmo tema, embora sob perspectivas diferentes, as duas narrativas apresentam o pai como figura de destaque, dando ênfase a seu papel como colonizador e a sua representatividade dentro da família. Pretende-se, portanto, discutir, a partir da ficção, de que forma a experiência da descolonização se manifesta, compreendendo o posicionamento das personagens diante dessa situação e de suas consequências. Para tanto, procuraremos investigar, considerando-se as perspectivas presentes nos dois textos, a ficcionalização do resgate da memória e da pós-memória do indivíduo na condição de retornado e diante da necessidade de reconstrução da vida após o desterramento. Através da problematização das situações apresentadas nos textos, discutiremos questões pertinentes a essa problemática, como: identidade, memória, pós-memória, perda, luto, trauma e silêncio. / The actual work has the purpose to study two novels : Caderno de memórias coloniais e O retorno, de Isabela Figueiredo e Dulce Maria Cardoso, respectively, both authors contemporary portugueses , when child , living the experience of colonization in Africa and return to the ex-metropolis after the decolonization. Beyond they accost the same theme, although about different perspectives, both narrative presents the father as a leading figure, giving emphasis in his role like colonizer and his representativeness inside the family. Intend , therefore, discuss, from the fiction, in what way the experience of decolonization manifests itself, understand the positioning of the characters against this situation and its consequences. Therefore, we seek to investigate, considering the perspectives inside both texts, the fictionalization of the recovery of memory and post-memory from individual in condition of returned and against the necessity of rebuild his life after the land out. Through the questioning of the situation submitted in the texts, we discuss relevant questions to this issue, like: identity, memory, post-memory, loss, mourning, trauma and silence.