Balada das mocinhas do Passeio Público de Dalton Trevisan – manuseando a opacidade da imagem da prostituição feminina
Balada das mocinhas do Passeio Público by Dalton Trevisan – manipulating the opacity of female prostitution’s image

Author(s): Anna Wolny
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Brazilian literature; Dalton Trevisan; Balada de mocinhas do Passeio Público; prostitution
Summary/Abstract: Born in 1925, Dalton Trevisan is one of the best Brazilian novelists. Written sincethe 60s, and especially appreciated by literary critics, his short stories (characterizedby a gradual condensation and simplification) occupy a distinct place in his work.Published in 2005 among other short stories of the anthology Rita Ritinha Ritona,the analyzed text verses the theme of female street prostitution, inscribed into thetopic of urban violence, exclusion, and unequal gender relations.The aim of this paper is to show ways in which the author tries to manipulate theopacity of female prostitute’s image, an ambiguous and symbolic figure who carrieswith itself several cultural tabus. He chooses two main strategies to do so: exploringthe polysemic potential of word, as well as weaving intertextual relations. Theobtained representation moves the center of gravity from fascination of inscrutablefemininity towards ascertainments about the viewer, representing the male gaze,with all its defects and limitations.

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