Banca de DEFESA: ADULAI BALDÉ

SOMANTIC MEMORIES OF ABDULAI SILA: LITERATURE, ORAL TRADITION AND IDENTITY IN GUINEA-BISSAU

issau-Guinean Literature; SOMantic Memories; Abdulai Sila; History and
fiction; Orality.

This thesis promotes an analysis of the relations between Bissau-Guinean literature, memory
and oral tradition in the literary work Memórias SOMânticas (2016) by the writer Abdulai
Sila, from the perspective of the dialogue between the three strands, in view of the colonial
past and the consequent processes subordination/resistance of local cultures. In this sense, this
work aims to show and discuss Bissau-Guinean Literature, from the work of Memórias
SOMânticas and understand it as an activity of knowledge of the study of art, taking into
account its relevance for literary, cultural and cultural studies. especially for the
understanding of national identity in Guinea-Bissau and in the post-colonial context. For this,
it was about understanding the relations between literature and identity in the field of
postcolonial theory, as well as the relations between literary history and the culture of the
country under study, as well as the problematization of the relations between history and
fiction in the scope of Bissau-Guinean literature and the importance of orality marks in this
writing. An approach was also carried out on the concept of bantabá in the Guinean tradition,
highlighting the relevance of the genre both for the lyrics and for the national identity of the
country. The method chosen for the development of the research was analytical-descriptive
and bibliographical, considering Memórias SOMânticas (2016) as the object of the study. To
this end, the work presents Postcolonial Theory and Criticism as a support base, based on
Freitas (2016) and Queiroz (2011) on the issue of Literature and identity; Evaristo (2016) and
Chiziane (2013) on Literature, memory and writing; Hall (2003/2006) in reviewing
postcolonial theory and criticism; Mata (2014) and Hamilton (1999) on the considerations
about the literature of the Portuguese-Speaking African Countries - PALOP, in addition to
scholars of the Bissau-Guinean literary system, such as Augel (2007) and Semedo
(2020/2011). As a result, it was seen that the novel presents, in different ways, intersections
between history and fiction, denouncing the social and political problems faced by Guineans
in various moments of its history and its present. In these denunciations, meanings of cultural
resistance and identity affirmation are affirmed.