abstract
This article takes its point of departure a historical series in Brazilian literature in which monstrosity is a central theme, in order to understand the importance of this motif in contemporary fiction, especially in the interrelated fields of fiction and history, ethics and hospitality, as represented in O filho da mãe, by Bernardo Carvalho. Using Mikhail Bakhtin’s (1988)BAKHTIN, Mikhail (1988) . Questões de literatura e de estética: a teoria do romance. São Paulo: Hucitec. p. 134-163. theory of the dialogic imagination and Jacques Derrida’s (2003)DERRIDA, Jacques (2003). Anne Dufourmantelle convida Jacques Derrida a falar da hospitalidade. São Paulo: Escuta. theories of hospitality, the essay discusses the novel’s social world, as well as other narrative elements, such as the figures of kunak and the chimera. The analysis of the novel’s social world is complemented by the conceptualization of literature as a passage, proposed by Lucia Helena (2009)HELENA, Lucia (2009). A literatura como passagem: reflexões em torno das ficções em desassossego. Alea, Rio de Janeiro, v. 11, n. 1, p. 111-129, jan./jun..
Keywords:
fiction; history; identity; ethics