The Aesthetic Game in Teresa Cárdenas

Reflections on the Cuban Romance Letters to My Mother

Authors

  • João Vitor Dias da Cruz Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48075/rlhm.v20i36.33579

Abstract

This article examines the aesthetics of Teresa Cárdenas in her epistolary novel Cartas para a minha mãe (2010). Defying colonial thought, the novel is narrated from the perspective of a Black child who writes letters to her deceased mother. It addresses themes such as mourning, family abandonment, and a feminine tone conveyed through the main character's voice to create life, even within a childhood shaped by Cuba's colonial structures. With this in mind, the objective is to analyze how the author employs the voice of a Black child in an aesthetic interplay to highlight the condition of Black women while reconstructing life from the remnants of childhood. To support this analysis, we draw on the ideas of French philosopher Jacques Rancière (2005), who views aesthetics as a means of exploring the realm of the sensible autonomously. For Rancière, aesthetics emancipates art by disrupting political and social hierarchies, as art operates without obligations or pre-established rules, guided by its authenticity. Similarly, in Cárdenas' literature (2010), the aesthetic interplay is evident in how Black strength and resistance are crafted to give voice to subalternized Cuban women. Accordingly, this study first discusses the concept of aesthetics in the arts and its application in Cárdenas' work. Subsequently, it explores how the child protagonist of the novel interprets and engages with the world through the lens of a Black child's perspective.

Author Biography

João Vitor Dias da Cruz, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Bolsista da FAPESB no nível de doutorado pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura e Cultura da Universidade Federal da Bahia (PPGLitCult/UFBA). Mestre pelo mesmo programa (2023) e graduado em Letras – Língua portuguesa e Língua inglesa (2021) pelo Centro Universitário Jorge Amado (UNIJORGE). Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/8401529577646493.

Published

30-12-2024

How to Cite

DIAS DA CRUZ, J. V. The Aesthetic Game in Teresa Cárdenas: Reflections on the Cuban Romance Letters to My Mother . Journal of Literature, History and Memory, [S. l.], v. 20, n. 36, p. 1–20, 2024. DOI: 10.48075/rlhm.v20i36.33579. Disponível em: https://e-revista.unioeste.br/index.php/rlhm/article/view/33579. Acesso em: 9 jul. 2025.

Issue

Section

PESQUISA EM LETRAS NO CONTEXTO LATINO-AMERICANO E LITERATURA, ENSINO E CULTURA