The Bird That Dances in the Cage: Style, Theme, and Narrative Experimentation in O Peso do Pássaro Morto (The Weight of a Dead Bird) and Pequena Coreografia do Adeus (A Small Choreography of Farewell), by Aline Bei
Gender-based violence; Aline Bei; Language; Narrative experimentation; Contemporary Brazilian narrative.
This dissertation examines the narrative experimentation proposed by Aline Bei and the relationship between her writing style and the manifestation of violence in the novels The Weight of a Dead Bird (2017) and A Small Choreography of Farewell (2021). From her very conception of the novel form, Bei departs from traditional narrative conventions by employing textual hybridity to address the theme of violence. This study first analyzes the hybrid form (Pécora, 2001) through which the São Paulo-born writer constructs her first two novels and subsequently investigates the genesis of violence (iek, 2024) and its consequences in the lives of the narrators of both works. Throughout this dissertation, it is argued that the violent act in Bei’s writing begins with her departure from literary tradition and her innovation in narrative form, thereby enhancing the themes addressed and drawing the reader’s attention to the denunciations embedded in the texts. In order to examine the interplay between style and theme, this study draws upon the theoretical and essayistic contributions on the novel by Annie Ernaux (2023), Georg Lukács (2021), and Mikhail Bakhtin (2014, 2015), placing them in dialogue with gender studies developed by Heleieth Saffioti (2005), Hélène Cixous (2022), and Silvia Federici (2019, 2023). The analysis demonstrates that Bei employs narrative experimentation by incorporating elements of poetry and dramatic writing in order to emphasize, sensitize, and bring readers closer to the multiple forms of violence that permeate women’s everyday lives.