Dream, crossing

paths of writing in Cidinha da Silva

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the representation of the writer character in the short stories “Travessia no barco da coragem” and “Cenas da Colônia Africana - lavadeiras” (African Colony Scenes - Washerwomen), by the chronicler and fiction writer from Minas Gerais, Cidinha da Silva. Starting from a discussion of the themes presented in the two texts, the article seeks to compare their protagonists, contextualizing them within the larger scope of their author’s trajectory. In this way, the reflection intertwines the worldview and the context in which the characters live, on the one hand, with, on the other hand, Cidinha’s work in the first affirmative action project in Brazil. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the generation XXI was a precursor of initiatives that would culminate in the Quota Law. The discussion then moves towards a reflection on the writer’s work within an aesthetic-political project, in which nonfiction texts join fictional characters to propose desirable postures, as well as a commitment to the act of dreaming and the affirmation of an insistence on consolidating projects. Among the names mobilized in this reflection is Sueli Carneiro, Cidinha da Silva's partner in the implementation of Generation XXI through Geledés. Also noteworthy as theoretical contributions to the discussion are the contributions of Eduardo de Assis Duarte, Saidiya Hartman and Gloria Anzaldúa.