ORIGIN AS A WAY OF OVERCOMING WAR AS A CATASTROPHE, IN SE O PASSADO NÃO TIVESSE ASAS, BY PEPETELA

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate how the concept of Origin – Ursprung – as advocated by Walter Benjamin was used in the novel Se o passado não tivesse asas, by the Angolan writer Pepetela, as a way to overcome the war as a catastrophe. Pepetela is the most important Angolan writer and winner of the Camões Prize in 1997. Angola was colonized by Portugal. It became independent after 14 years of conflict. Independence launched the country into the civil war, between MPLA, UNITA and FNLA, which lasted until 1990. However, the war was resumed in 1992 and was only extinguished in 2002. In the novel, Himba is the girl who survives the truck explosion who was taking his family to Luanda. She stays alive, thanks to the remains of food from local restaurants thrown in a garbage container. In 2002, she witnesses the death of her entire family, after visiting her former home town. She decides to change her identity, changing her name to Sofia Moreira. In this act, I understand that Ursprung is taking place. She starts working at a restaurant. She becomes a partner and then owner of the establishment. To do so, she subtracts the rights of Ezequiel, the disabled son of the former owner of the restaurant. Upon becoming Sofia, she leaves the victim behind and becomes the predator, surviving the war and being able to finally overcome the civil conflict. We used the theoretical contribution of Walter Benjamin, Kwane Anthony Appiah, Stuart Hall, Michael Löwy, Jeanne Marie Gagnebin, Georges Didi-Huberman and Renata Flávia da Silva.

Key words: Se o passado não tivesse asas. Pepetela. Origin. War. Catastrophe.