A morte da infância e a morte na infância em contos de Mia Couto

Abstract

This work aimed to analyze the concept of death in childhood and of childhood arising from the post-colonial period in Mozambique, themes that are present in the children's short stories "O dia em que explodiu Mabata-bata", "A menina do futuro torcido” and “Rio das quatro luzes”, written by Mia Couto. From the events that end with the death of children (or their childhood) in the mentioned narratives, we conducted the research dividing it into 3 parts: in Mozambique and its mishaps, we contextualize the arrival of the Portuguese in Africa and the colonization process in the new discovered continent using the theories of Bonicci (2009), Capossa (2005), Chichava (2011) and Memmi (2007). Next, in The brutality continues..., we direct the research to the theme of the exploitation of children, presenting research on the disparity in child labor in Africa compared to the whole world, because child exploitation occurs as a result of the need for work children to help with the family budget or for exploratory purposes as a reflection of colonization, as we observed in the selected stories, and to conduct this research, we used Araújo (2017), Barthes (2011), Kovács (1992), Manhice (2016), Matter (2015), Said (2011), Spivak (2010), Torres (1979) and research by the International Labor Organization – ILO (2020). Then, in The death and the childhood in short stories by Mia Couto, the concepts of death in childhood and in literature were discussed (and possible reasons to avoid this theme) and aspects were organized, through a comparative research between the selected short stories, that characterize the death of children in diegeses as a consequence of a population living in the post-colonial era, and Ariès (2012), Aroha (2021), Bhabha (1998), Correa (2011), Guerreiro (2014), Marín-Díaz (2010), Sengik and Ramos (2015), Todorov (2003), Vendruscolo (2005), Winnicott (2019) and Zilberman (1985) were some of the theorists who broadened our horizons. Finally, we conclude that the theme of death in children's literature symbolizes the death of real children and this subject should be widely discussed in all social spheres and with people of all ages to make them aware of all the dangers of the world, and we must not let this topic continue to be classified as a taboo reinforced by the modern society.