Escrita de si, memória e testemunho em Margem das lembranças, de Hermilo Borba Filho

Abstract

This paper proposes an approach about Margem das lembranças, by the writer Hermilo Borba Filho, from Pernambuco, considering the theories of self-writing, memory, and testimony. The main goal is to observe how those elements are present in this novel and hence what are the deployments of a writing in which a subject, naturally limited before his memory failures, creates a self-image at the same time he transmutes his experiences into narrative. Thus the discussion begins trying to understand the senses of autonarration in order to approach memory and reflect on its relations with forgetfulness, language, history, and creating. The concept of testimonial literature is seen as a venue between experience and remembrance – the subject who narrates himself bears witness personal and collective experiences at the same time he resorts to memories in order to restore the past. This work is divided into three parts which reflect on several aspects that include a self-writing and find support in a theoretical research, based on literary-critical and socio-historical-philosophical studies.