Trauma e repetição: O sinistro e suas formas literárias em três momentos da nossa história

Abstract

This article discusses the problematics of trauma, memory formation and the diverse forms of the uncanny (unheimlich) found in prison writings by Everardo Dias, Graciliano Ramos, Dyonelio Machado and Flávio Tavares, referring to different moments of suspension of rights and authoritarianism in twentieth century Brazil (the marshal law imposed in 1922-1926, followed by the Vargas and military dictatorships). In comparing these works, I reflect on questions crucial to the testimony of violence, such as the difficulty of its symbolization and the importance of the construction of memory and of the differential repetition through writing.