THE CONSTRUCTION OF FEMALE IDENTITY IN VERÃO NO AQUÁRIO, BY LYGIA FAGUNDES TELLES

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of the construction of the identity of the female characters in the novel Verão no Aquário (2010), by Lygia Fagundes Telles, especially how the author deconstructs female models expected by society, either through the protagonist, Raíza, a young woman in the process of becoming, or through her mother, Patrícia, a successful writer, an independent woman with an unshakeable stance, whom her daughter greatly admires, despite always opposing her. We also intend to examine other relevant issues in the work, such as family conflicts, the turbulent relationship between mother and daughter, the absence of the father figure, the breakdown of the traditional family, and sexual freedom, thus investigating how these topics contribute to debates regarding the social role of women. To this end, we draw on the concepts of identity defended by Hall (2006), as well as studies on the history of women investigated by Perrot (1998; 2007), the feminist essays of Woolf (2013), and also Todorov (2006) and Candido (2009), to evaluate the creation of the characters that make up the novel.