Black reason and the romantic project: double face of the novel Úrsula (1859), by Maria Firmina dos Reis

Abstract

This study intends to analyze the novel Úrsula (1859), by Maria Firmina dos Reis, based on the concept of «black reason» formulated by Achille Mbembe (2014), in contrast to the romantic aesthetic that also supports the author›s book Brazilian. And, in addition, it aims to discuss how this concept of Mbembe helps to understand the representation of the black people realized by Firmina’s text. For Mbembe, «black reason» is linked to the fabrication of images of knowledge and the afro-descendant subject. The hypothesis of this essay is that «black reason» operates as a device responsible for enhancing the understanding of afro-descendant images in the novel Ursula, as exemplified by the trajectories of Túlio, Mãe Susana and Antero. If, on the one hand, the book in question chooses to follow the general lines of Brazilian romanticism, when discussing the configuration of the nation and slavery, on the other hand it does so from the paradigms of identity ruled by “black reason”, the black people as subject of actions and discourse.