Banca de DEFESA: DANIEL BRUNO MIRANDA DA SILVA

The (Post-)Virgilian Katabasis in Sousândrade’s O Guesa

Differential Comparison; katabasis; Virgil; Sousândrade; O Guesa

This thesis investigates the reconfiguration of the katabatic motif in Western epic poetry through the comparative analysis of the underworld descents by Virgil (2008, 2019) and Sousândrade (2012). It articulates three theoretical frameworks: the discursive, differential, and dialogical comparison of Heidmann (2003, 2010, 2024); the epic semiotization of discourse of Silva (2017) and Ramalho (2013); and the discourse analysis of Maingueneau (2001, 2014). The study adopts the differential comparison method, which investigates modifications, displacements, and reinterpretations produced by each rewriting, and analyzes the katabases through the categories of scenography, ethos, paratopia, and constituent discourse. The results show that the Virgilian and Sousândradean katabases constitute radically different discursive responses to the preceding katabatic tradition. While Orpheus' katabasis (Virgil, 2019) is a metapoetic reflection on the limits of poetry, and Aeneas' katabasis (Virgil, 2008) legitimizes Roman imperial identity, the Tatuturema (Sousândrade, 2012) subverts the classical motif by displacing hell to imperial Amazonia, transforming the descent into a critique of the degradation of indigenous peoples and the corruption of the Brazilian Empire. The Wall Street Inferno (Sousândrade, 2012) transports the hero to the heart of financial capitalism, where speculation and exploitation take on supernatural contours. The Sousândradean katabases dialogue with the classical tradition but subvert it by displacing hell from mythical space to the historical and political space of capitalist modernity. The research concludes that epic semiotization operates at the levels of enunciation, representation, intertextuality, and reception, and that differential comparison, combined with discourse analysis, enables the understanding of how the katabatic motif is transformed as it circulates among different epochs, languages, and cultures, revealing the permanence and renewal of the epic genre as a space for reflection on the human condition and historical destiny.