A cozinha da desigualdade: tia Nastácia e o racismo em reinações de Narizinho, de Monteiro Lobato

Abstract

As debates on racial issues gained prominence in the public sphere and academic circles, there has been increased scrutiny regarding how Black people are portrayed and how racial issues are addressed in the book Reinações de Narizinho. In this context, the general objective of this study is to analyze the presence of stereotypes and racist expressions in the work of Monteiro Lobato, focusing on the character Tia Nastácia. This analysis is informed by the theoretical frameworks of Djamila Ribeiro (2019) and Silvio Almeida (2019), who discuss structural racism, as well as Gayatri Spivak's (2010) contributions on subalternity. These theoretical approaches help to understand how Lobato's work not only reflects but also perpetuates racial stereotypes, aligning with the racist conceptions of the time. The choice of Tia Nastácia is justified by the intrinsic relevance that this character assumes in Reinações de Narizinho, representing a crucial point for the proposed analysis. Her characterization and representation are closely tied to the ethnic-racial stereotypes present in Brazilian literature. The results demonstrated that, although the inclusion of Black characters, such as Tia Nastácia, might initially be seen as an effort towards representation, the language and the portrayal used by the author ultimately reinforce negative stereotypes and perpetuate a pejorative view of Black people. Derogatory terms and the constant subordination of Tia Nastácia highlight the prejudiced views of the time, which still resonate today