Negotiation of identities in the work vencidos e degenerados (1915) by Nascimento Moraes

Abstract

This work aims to understand how identity negotiation processes took place, based on the analysis of two characters from the work Vencidos e degenerados (1915) by José do Nascimento Moraes, Andreza Vital and João da Moda. To this end, a historical and philosophical approach will be taken to understand how intersectional power relations, discussed in the book Intersectionality (2020) by Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge, influenced the negotiation of these identities. During the course of the narrative, as mother and son, Andreza and João are separated immediately after giving birth, with João da Moda being immediately sold on orders from his own father, Colonel Magalhães, his mother's master and rapist. This event reveals the brutality and dehumanization experienced by Andreza, an enslaved woman, who even though she was guaranteed by the Free Womb law to live with her son until he was eight years old, in fact, had this right denied, creating throughout her life and in your child's life, large emotional gaps that affect their self-esteem, the way they perceive themselves, their sense of belonging and also the ways in which they relate lovingly. Finally, we highlight the importance of considering that the intersectional power relations in Vanquished and Degenerated (1915), mainly racism and class elitism, ended up shaping the subjectivities as well as the perspectives of these characters in relation to aspects of their lives after traumatic events.