“Quem tem medo do essencialismo? ”: o ecofeminismo estratégico dos contos de fadas de Marina Colasanti

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation analyses contemporary fairy tales by Italian-Brazilian writer Marina Colasanti, distributed in works released between 1979 and 2014, that highlight the inter-relations of female, male and more-than-human nature characters. The are: “Por duas asas de veludo”, “Um espinho de marfim”, “Entre as folhas do verde O”, “Como os campos”, “Debaixo da pele, a lua”, “No aconchego de um turbante”, “São os cabelos das mulheres”, “Quem me deu foi a manhã”, “Poça de sangue em campo de neve”, “Vermelho, entre os troncos” and “Um presente no ninho”. In these narratives, the women represented are associated with the more-than-human nature and the male characters are oppressors of these women as well as the animals and other mimetic process of the more-than-human universe. Thus, I make use of ecofeminism as a theoretical perspective, based, mainly, on the contributions of Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies (1993), Greta Gaard (2017 [2010]; 2011), Izabel Brandão (2019; 2017; 2003), Carol Adams (2012 [1990]), Starhawk (1989), Charlene Spretnak (1989) and Deena Metzger (1989), among other critics and theorists of ecology, and of feminisms. For deeper understanding of the questions proposed here, this work is divided into two parts. The first one reveals the essentialist bias in these tales, in the extent that they define women – because of their connections with nature -, as ever oppressed and men as ever the oppressors. My argument, nonetheless, is that such an essentialism related to the female representation is strategic and contingent, for it is from the bond with both external and internal natures that the female characters resist the oppression imposed on them by the patriarchy. Moreover, the author promotes an “affirmative use” and a “realignment” – using here Mary Russo’s (2000) notions – of the relation women/nature, ressignifying, especially, the concept of nature, which is constructed with agency, according to Stacy Alaimo’s (2017 [2010]) view of “transcorporeal movements”. Thus, to address essentialism, I refer to the studies of Russo, Alaimo, as well as Gayatri Spivak (2010 [1985]) and Diana Fuss (2017 [1989]). The second part of this work shows that, in associating women to the more-than-human world, the narratives indicate na immanent spirituality, which I understand from the perspective of a cultural or spiritual ecofeminism, also accused of essentialism by the feminist criticism. I support, however, the equally strategic character of this ecofeminist trend in Colasanti’s narratives, especially when it comes to the ethical relation with nature and the empowerment of the female characters. In this sense, I present what I call “compensating connection”, concept that vindicates the consideration of the spiritual dimension in women’s resistance processes. Still in this part, I analyze tales that differ from the others for presenting two non-toxic male characters and a female one not connected with nature, parting from the association and the criticism to archetypes of Carl G. Jung’s depth psychology. The conclusions propose some direction, such as the importance of an ecofeminist bias in the fairy tales, a genre traditionally marked by the reification of women and nature, but also the need for the development of a compensatory ecofeminist perspective, that may overcome the essentialism and the dichotomies, but also incorporate important aspects of existence, such as spirituality.