A representação em questão: colonizador e colonizado em The Other Hand, de Chris Cleave
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Data
2023-02-13
Autores
Almeida, Marco Aurelio Barsanelli de
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Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Resumo
Lançada em 2008, a obra The Other Hand, de autoria do britânico Chris Cleave, tem como protagonista Pequena Abelha, uma garota negra nigeriana que, fugindo de uma realidade de medo e violência em sua terra natal, busca refúgio na Inglaterra após a destruição de seu vilarejo e o assassinato de sua irmã. Cleave, assim, deseja representar o olhar de uma garota africana em sua luta por sobrevivência e adaptação à nova realidade. O trabalho aqui apresentado tem como objetivo investigar a maneira como Cleave, um homem branco e europeu, representa uma garota negra africana, a visão sobre a sociedade inglesa, a relação com outros refugiados e o convívio com a família de Sarah, uma mulher branca britânica. Para nossas análises, utilizamos os escritos de autoras/es como Gambarato (2005), Foucault (1998), Compagnon (2012) e Olney (1980), entre outros, para estabelecermos uma visão acerca da representação, enquanto processo e produto, que abarque nossas análises do romance de Cleave. Atentamos também para as ideias de Hall (2002, 2003, 2003, 2016), Spivak (2010), Nigro (2017) e Butler (1993, 2016), para citar alguns, acerca dos liames entre representação, poder e gênero. Apresentamos, ainda, uma breve explanação acerca da exploração colonial no continente africano, a partir das considerações de Chagastelles (2008), Matera, Bastian e Kent (2012), Mbembe (2018), Lynch (2012) e Nwosu (1992), e outros. As ideias pós-coloniais e o pensamento decolonial são discutidos por meio das concepções de Said (2001), Spivak (2010), Quijano (1992, 2008), Castro-Gómez (2008), Walter Mignolo (2008) e Catherine Walsh (2008, 2009), de modo a compreendermos como as percepções dos povos anteriormente colonizados moldam a apreensão desses indivíduos sobre a sociedade contemporânea e os permite agir contra os meios de exploração e dominação. Por fim, os escritos de Muraro (1989), Garcia (2015) e Priore (2013) nos proporcionam um panorama histório-social sobre a situação da mulher e o movimento feminista, enquanto hooks (1990, 2019), Crenshaw (1991), Davis (2016) e Collins (2019) voltam seus olhares para os problemas e lutas do feminismo negro. Os autores e autoras elencados fornecem uma sólida base crítica e teórica a partir da qual compreendemos como as relações coloniais continuam inseridas no romance de Cleave. Apesar de oferecer um bom trabalho ao criticar a sociedade britânica e retratar os refugiados, notamos a presença de variados elementos que reforçam papeis de gênero tradicionalmente atribuídos pelo pensamento patriarcal, além da perpetuação de mitos raciais que desabonam o indivíduo negro, principalmente o feminino. Nosso estudo reforça a presença autoral no texto literário ao entrever, na representação criada por Cleave de uma refugiada negra africana, elementos que conservam a mentalidade hegemônica e patriarcal, na qual o pensamento colonizador permanece como artifício de dominação do sujeito colonizado.
Released in 2008, “The Other Hand”, by British author Chris Cleave, has as its protagonist Little Bee, a black Nigerian girl who, fleeing from a reality of fear and violence in her homeland, seeks refuge in England after the destruction of her village and the murder of her sister. Cleave, thus, wishes to represent the perceptions of an African girl in her struggle for survival and adaptation to her new reality. The work presented here aims to investigate the way Cleave, a white European man, represents a black African girl, her view of English society, her relationship with other refugees, and her relations with Sarah's family, a white British woman. For our analyses, we used the writings of authors such as Gambarato (2005), Foucault (1998), Compagnon (2012), and Olney (1980), among others, to establish a vision about representation, as process and product, that encompasses our analyses of Cleave's novel. We are also based on the ideas of Hall (2002, 2003, 2003, 2016), Spivak (2010), Nigro (2017), and Butler (1993, 2016), to name a few, about the links between representation, power, and gender. We present a brief explanation, as well, of colonial exploitation on the African continent, from the considerations of Chagastelles (2008), Matera, Bastian and Kent (2012), Mbembe (2018), Lynch (2012) and Nwosu (1992), and others. Postcolonial ideas and decolonial thinking are discussed through the conceptions of Said (2001), Spivak (2010), Quijano (1992, 2008), Castro-Gómez (2008), Walter Mignolo (2008), and Catherine Walsh (2008, 2009) in order to understand how the perceptions of formerly colonized peoples shape these individuals' apprehension of contemporary society and enable them to act against the means of exploitation and domination. Finally, the writings of Muraro (1989), Garcia (2015), and Priore (2013) provide us with a historical-social overview of the situation of women and the feminist movement, while hooks (1990, 2019), Crenshaw (1991), Davis (2016), and Collins (2019) turn their gaze to the problems and struggles of black feminism. The authors above provide a solid critical and theoretical foundation from which we understand how colonial relations remain embedded in Cleave's novel. Although Cleave does a good job of critiquing British society and portraying refugees, we note the presence of various elements that reinforce gender roles traditionally assigned by patriarchal thought, as well as the perpetuation of racial myths that discredit the black individual, especially the female one. Our study reinforces the authorial presence in the literary text by glimpsing, in the representation created by Cleave of a black African refugee, elements that preserve the hegemonic and patriarchal mentality, in which colonizing thought remains as an artifice of domination of the colonized subject.
Released in 2008, “The Other Hand”, by British author Chris Cleave, has as its protagonist Little Bee, a black Nigerian girl who, fleeing from a reality of fear and violence in her homeland, seeks refuge in England after the destruction of her village and the murder of her sister. Cleave, thus, wishes to represent the perceptions of an African girl in her struggle for survival and adaptation to her new reality. The work presented here aims to investigate the way Cleave, a white European man, represents a black African girl, her view of English society, her relationship with other refugees, and her relations with Sarah's family, a white British woman. For our analyses, we used the writings of authors such as Gambarato (2005), Foucault (1998), Compagnon (2012), and Olney (1980), among others, to establish a vision about representation, as process and product, that encompasses our analyses of Cleave's novel. We are also based on the ideas of Hall (2002, 2003, 2003, 2016), Spivak (2010), Nigro (2017), and Butler (1993, 2016), to name a few, about the links between representation, power, and gender. We present a brief explanation, as well, of colonial exploitation on the African continent, from the considerations of Chagastelles (2008), Matera, Bastian and Kent (2012), Mbembe (2018), Lynch (2012) and Nwosu (1992), and others. Postcolonial ideas and decolonial thinking are discussed through the conceptions of Said (2001), Spivak (2010), Quijano (1992, 2008), Castro-Gómez (2008), Walter Mignolo (2008), and Catherine Walsh (2008, 2009) in order to understand how the perceptions of formerly colonized peoples shape these individuals' apprehension of contemporary society and enable them to act against the means of exploitation and domination. Finally, the writings of Muraro (1989), Garcia (2015), and Priore (2013) provide us with a historical-social overview of the situation of women and the feminist movement, while hooks (1990, 2019), Crenshaw (1991), Davis (2016), and Collins (2019) turn their gaze to the problems and struggles of black feminism. The authors above provide a solid critical and theoretical foundation from which we understand how colonial relations remain embedded in Cleave's novel. Although Cleave does a good job of critiquing British society and portraying refugees, we note the presence of various elements that reinforce gender roles traditionally assigned by patriarchal thought, as well as the perpetuation of racial myths that discredit the black individual, especially the female one. Our study reinforces the authorial presence in the literary text by glimpsing, in the representation created by Cleave of a black African refugee, elements that preserve the hegemonic and patriarchal mentality, in which colonizing thought remains as an artifice of domination of the colonized subject.
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Palavras-chave
Representação, Chris Cleave, The Other Hand, Pós-colonialismo, Feminismo, Representation, Postcolonialism, Feminism