Desmascaramento do mundo colonial moçambicano em As visitas do Dr. Valdez, de João Paulo Borges Coelho

Abstract

O presente trabalho investiga o romance As visitas do Dr. Valdez, de João Paulo Borges Coelho, considerando alguns conceitos de Mikhail Bakhtin. A obra traz múltiplos aspectos da vida colonial em Moçambique durante o século XX. Para reconstituir tal período, o autor recorre a diferentes estratagemas e categorias, dialogando com o passado e o presente através de um narrador onisciente. A violência cultural e política estão presentes através do mascaramento identitário. A noção de superioridade e inferioridade – cultural, econômica e racial – é a principal chave de leitura, uma vez que esta traduz a constituição do regime colonialista. Nesse sentido, o narrador expõe com precisão e rigor o funcionamento daquela estrutura, utilizando-se do recurso paródico-carnavalesco para discutir as questões da opressão colonial.

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The unmasking of the Mozambican colonial world in As visitas do Dr. Valdez,
by João Paulo Borges Coelho

Abstract: This study examines the novel As visitas do Dr. Valdez (The visits of Dr. Valdez), by João Paulo Borges Coelho, drawing on some concepts of Mikhail Bakhtin. The novel includes various aspects of colonial life in Mozambique during the twentieth century. In order to reconstruct this period, the author uses different schemes and categories by dialoguing with the past and present through an omniscient narrator. The cultural and political violence are present through the masking of identity. The notion of superiority and inferiority – cultural, racial and economic ones – is the main key to reading, since it reflects the establishment of colonialist regime. In this sense, the narrator exposes accurately and precisely the functioning of that structure, using the parodic-carnivalesque resource to discuss the issues of colonial oppression.

Keywords: Mozambique novel; Colonial History; Parodic laughter