A simbologia da água nos contos de Ildefonso Guimarães

Abstract

In this dissertation we aim to analyze the symbology of water in four narratives from the books Histórias sobre o vulgar and Senda Bruta, written by the paraense author Ildefonso Guimarães. The short stories "Um homem mau", "Juventina 45 anos", "O Rio" and "Linha do Horizonte" were selected as research analysis corpus. Focusing on a writer whose works are insufficiently researched, a data survey about all the existing criticism in regional and national aspects was applied, which confirmed the work of Guimarães as invaluable one. As a reserved, humble and autodidact writer, Guimarães began to write in his youth, and throughout his life, he narrated stories that revealed the daily life of people, especially those less privileged by society, uplifting customs and regional popular language. Some of his stories have been drawn from the difficult reality of the people. A novelist, chronicler and short story writer, Ildefonso Guimarães was a vehement author from his time, which he affectionately called "My Century". He believed that a writer should be a witness of time, valuing the lives of people and the place where they live. He published a small part of his writings in newspapers from where he also got inspiration to write some stories. In the short stories analyzed, one can see the writer's persistence on the symbology of water, which is featured through the rainfall, an element that directly influences the lives of the characters, and which highlights the text due to the possibility of meanings it bears. The short story "Linha do Horizonte" was analyzed in detail, since it is the one in which the symbology of water is presented throughout the narrative, thus allowing the term "aquonarrative" to be used with accuracy. In order to fulfill this study, a theoretical reference that has the following authors was used: Jung (1912, 1964, 1984), Eliade (1979), Durand (2012), Bogéa (1990, 2004) Gheerbrant (2003) and Bachelard (1990, 1997).