Cartography of memory: the fabric of reminiscences in the construction of Becos da Memória, a novel by Conceição Evaristo

Abstract

This article analyzes aspects such as memory, identity and belonging in Conceição Evaristo's novel, Becos da Memória. The author uses literary language to interweave personal and collective memories, articulating them with questions of belonging, identity and space, especially in the context of urban slum clearance and marginalization in Brazil in the 1980s. As a theoretical basis, we consider the studies of, especially, Gagnebin (2009), who discusses the relationship between remembering, writing and forgetting; Martins (2021), who explores the “Afrographies of memory” and the importance of cultural traditions in preserving memory; Monteiro (1988), who addresses the crises in geography and their implications.