Elisa Scaraggi é bolseira Marie Skłodowska-Curie no Instituto de História Contemporânea da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Obteve o seu doutoramento em Estudos Comparatistas (2020) na Universidade de Lisboa, com uma bolsa da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).
Interessa-se pela forma como o colonialismo e a colonialidade moldaram o contexto político, social e cultural das nações que emergiram da dissolução do império português, com ênfase em Angola e no Brasil. A sua investigação aborda questões relacionadas com a produção de arte e cultura em ambientes violentos e autoritários, centrando-se no entrelaçamento entre experiências pessoais e colectivas em arquivos pessoais, bem como em autobiografias, memórias e outras obras de escrita de vida.
A sua investigação actual centra-se no arquivo pessoal do nacionalista angolano Mário Pinto de Andrade, como uma chave para descobrir novas narrativas sobre o passado recente de Angola e a relação entre cultura e nacionalismo.
In this article, I discuss Mário Pinto de Andrade’s efforts to raise solidarity with... more In this article, I discuss Mário Pinto de Andrade’s efforts to raise solidarity with Angola in Brazil, focusing on his presence in Brazilian publications of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Through diverse sources–including documents from Andrade’s personal archive, records from other personal and institutional archives, as well as books and articles–I aim to map Andrade’s collaborations with intellectuals and journalists who supported the independence of Angola and understand how the dis-course about the Angolan liberation struggle was articulated in Brazil. Moreover, I want to reflect on Andrade’s connection with Brazilian culture, starting from the premise that it played a crucialrole in the intellectual formation of many Angolan nationalists. Finally, I point out how Mário Pinto de Andrade’s influence went be-yond politics and extended to the nascent field of African Studies in Brazil.
From 1961 to 1972, the Angolan writer José Luandino Vieira was incarcerated by Portuguese colonia... more From 1961 to 1972, the Angolan writer José Luandino Vieira was incarcerated by Portuguese colonial authorities because of his participation in the anticolonial struggle of Angola. In prison, he wrote most of his literary works, alongside a series of notebooks in which he reported his thoughts, feelings, literary and political considerations, etc. In 2015, after more than forty years after Vieira's release from prison, the notebooks were published in a volume titled Papéis da prisão. Apontamentos, diário, correspondência (1962-1971). In this article, I focus on how the book contributes to the debate on Angola's past by influencing how the years of the struggle for independence are perceived today and how they will be remembered in the future. I argue that Papéis is not simply a collection of the writer's intimate and personal memories as it bears witness to the experience of a larger community, a community that Vieira identifies with the Angolan nation. Briefly considering the political uses of memory, I show how Papéis stands apart from a crystallized official narrative of the anticolonial struggle, contributing to renewed discussions around Angola's past. These discussions aim to restore complexity, depth, and diversity to a narrative that is oversimplified and partisan. However, restoring complexity also implies showing the contradictions, conflicts, and tensions that emerged during the struggle. In this sense, the book is not a nostalgic tribute to the past, but rather a call to reflect on what the past still has to say to the present.
Resenha do livro "Armas de papel: Graciliano Ramos, as Memórias do cárcere e o Partido Comunista ... more Resenha do livro "Armas de papel: Graciliano Ramos, as Memórias do cárcere e o Partido Comunista Brasileiro", de Fabio Cesar Alves. São Paulo: Editora 34, 2016
Neste trabalho, seguindo as linhas mestras definidas por pesquisas históricas (Buntman 2003; McEv... more Neste trabalho, seguindo as linhas mestras definidas por pesquisas históricas (Buntman 2003; McEvoy 2015), exploro o conceito de resistência no contexto da prisão, destacando como as condições materiais são essenciais para que haja resistência, e para determinar a forma que esta assume. À luz des-tas considerações, procedo à análise de alguns aspetos da obra Papéis da Prisão (2015), de José Luandino Vieira. Feito preso político durante a luta pela independência de Angola, José Luandino Vieira escreveu a maior parte de sua literatura de ficção durante a reclusão, além de dezessete cadernos de apontamentos que foram recentemente publicados com o título Papéis da Prisão. O meu objetivo não é só analisar os Papéis como exemplo de resistência em si, mas também observar as diferentes práticas de resistência que a obra descreve
A story is always born twice. Issues in adaptation, 2017
In this article, I analyse how the novel La guerra del fin del mundo, by Peruan author Mario Varg... more In this article, I analyse how the novel La guerra del fin del mundo, by Peruan author Mario Vargas LLosa, can be read as an adaptation of a classic of Brazilian literature, Euclide da Cunha's Os Sertões.
When analysing literature produced in confinement or that concerns the experience of detention of... more When analysing literature produced in confinement or that concerns the experience of detention of a writer, context plays an essential role. In fact, not only is this kind of literature generally produced as a response to the writer’s incarceration – which takes place in a specific historical, political and social context – but the very form of the text is determined by contextual factors. However, renowned literary critics have defended that a context-oriented approach to literature is obsolete and it denies readers a more intimate and immediate connection with literary texts. This argument leaves aside the problem of how we should consider texts that originate from historical experiences (diaries, memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, etc.) and, what is more, from historical experiences of political violence. In these cases, is it possible or ethical to overtly disregard the context? To show how crucial context is in the textual and theoretical analysis of texts related to the experience of confinement, I would like to bring here some examples taken from Memórias do cárcere and Papéis da prisão, respectively the prison memoirs by Brazilian novelist Graciliano Ramos, and the philological edition of the notebooks kept by Angolan writer Luandino Vieira during his imprisonment under the Portuguese colonial regime. I will examine these texts as examples of witness narratives, arguing that they should be read and interpreted considering their historical and political contexts and their material conditions of production.
In this article, I discuss Mário Pinto de Andrade’s efforts to raise solidarity with... more In this article, I discuss Mário Pinto de Andrade’s efforts to raise solidarity with Angola in Brazil, focusing on his presence in Brazilian publications of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Through diverse sources–including documents from Andrade’s personal archive, records from other personal and institutional archives, as well as books and articles–I aim to map Andrade’s collaborations with intellectuals and journalists who supported the independence of Angola and understand how the dis-course about the Angolan liberation struggle was articulated in Brazil. Moreover, I want to reflect on Andrade’s connection with Brazilian culture, starting from the premise that it played a crucialrole in the intellectual formation of many Angolan nationalists. Finally, I point out how Mário Pinto de Andrade’s influence went be-yond politics and extended to the nascent field of African Studies in Brazil.
From 1961 to 1972, the Angolan writer José Luandino Vieira was incarcerated by Portuguese colonia... more From 1961 to 1972, the Angolan writer José Luandino Vieira was incarcerated by Portuguese colonial authorities because of his participation in the anticolonial struggle of Angola. In prison, he wrote most of his literary works, alongside a series of notebooks in which he reported his thoughts, feelings, literary and political considerations, etc. In 2015, after more than forty years after Vieira's release from prison, the notebooks were published in a volume titled Papéis da prisão. Apontamentos, diário, correspondência (1962-1971). In this article, I focus on how the book contributes to the debate on Angola's past by influencing how the years of the struggle for independence are perceived today and how they will be remembered in the future. I argue that Papéis is not simply a collection of the writer's intimate and personal memories as it bears witness to the experience of a larger community, a community that Vieira identifies with the Angolan nation. Briefly considering the political uses of memory, I show how Papéis stands apart from a crystallized official narrative of the anticolonial struggle, contributing to renewed discussions around Angola's past. These discussions aim to restore complexity, depth, and diversity to a narrative that is oversimplified and partisan. However, restoring complexity also implies showing the contradictions, conflicts, and tensions that emerged during the struggle. In this sense, the book is not a nostalgic tribute to the past, but rather a call to reflect on what the past still has to say to the present.
Resenha do livro "Armas de papel: Graciliano Ramos, as Memórias do cárcere e o Partido Comunista ... more Resenha do livro "Armas de papel: Graciliano Ramos, as Memórias do cárcere e o Partido Comunista Brasileiro", de Fabio Cesar Alves. São Paulo: Editora 34, 2016
Neste trabalho, seguindo as linhas mestras definidas por pesquisas históricas (Buntman 2003; McEv... more Neste trabalho, seguindo as linhas mestras definidas por pesquisas históricas (Buntman 2003; McEvoy 2015), exploro o conceito de resistência no contexto da prisão, destacando como as condições materiais são essenciais para que haja resistência, e para determinar a forma que esta assume. À luz des-tas considerações, procedo à análise de alguns aspetos da obra Papéis da Prisão (2015), de José Luandino Vieira. Feito preso político durante a luta pela independência de Angola, José Luandino Vieira escreveu a maior parte de sua literatura de ficção durante a reclusão, além de dezessete cadernos de apontamentos que foram recentemente publicados com o título Papéis da Prisão. O meu objetivo não é só analisar os Papéis como exemplo de resistência em si, mas também observar as diferentes práticas de resistência que a obra descreve
A story is always born twice. Issues in adaptation, 2017
In this article, I analyse how the novel La guerra del fin del mundo, by Peruan author Mario Varg... more In this article, I analyse how the novel La guerra del fin del mundo, by Peruan author Mario Vargas LLosa, can be read as an adaptation of a classic of Brazilian literature, Euclide da Cunha's Os Sertões.
When analysing literature produced in confinement or that concerns the experience of detention of... more When analysing literature produced in confinement or that concerns the experience of detention of a writer, context plays an essential role. In fact, not only is this kind of literature generally produced as a response to the writer’s incarceration – which takes place in a specific historical, political and social context – but the very form of the text is determined by contextual factors. However, renowned literary critics have defended that a context-oriented approach to literature is obsolete and it denies readers a more intimate and immediate connection with literary texts. This argument leaves aside the problem of how we should consider texts that originate from historical experiences (diaries, memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, etc.) and, what is more, from historical experiences of political violence. In these cases, is it possible or ethical to overtly disregard the context? To show how crucial context is in the textual and theoretical analysis of texts related to the experience of confinement, I would like to bring here some examples taken from Memórias do cárcere and Papéis da prisão, respectively the prison memoirs by Brazilian novelist Graciliano Ramos, and the philological edition of the notebooks kept by Angolan writer Luandino Vieira during his imprisonment under the Portuguese colonial regime. I will examine these texts as examples of witness narratives, arguing that they should be read and interpreted considering their historical and political contexts and their material conditions of production.
Uploads
Papers by Elisa Scaraggi
Books by Elisa Scaraggi
However, renowned literary critics have defended that a context-oriented approach to literature is obsolete and it denies readers a more intimate and immediate connection with literary texts.
This argument leaves aside the problem of how we should consider texts that originate from historical experiences (diaries, memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, etc.) and, what is more, from historical experiences of political violence. In these cases, is it possible or ethical to overtly disregard the context?
To show how crucial context is in the textual and theoretical analysis of texts related to the experience of confinement, I would like to bring here some examples taken from Memórias do cárcere and Papéis da prisão, respectively the prison memoirs by Brazilian novelist Graciliano Ramos, and the philological edition of the notebooks kept by Angolan writer Luandino Vieira during his imprisonment under the Portuguese colonial regime.
I will examine these texts as examples of witness narratives, arguing that they should be read and interpreted considering their historical and political contexts and their material conditions of production.
Book Reviews by Elisa Scaraggi
However, renowned literary critics have defended that a context-oriented approach to literature is obsolete and it denies readers a more intimate and immediate connection with literary texts.
This argument leaves aside the problem of how we should consider texts that originate from historical experiences (diaries, memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, etc.) and, what is more, from historical experiences of political violence. In these cases, is it possible or ethical to overtly disregard the context?
To show how crucial context is in the textual and theoretical analysis of texts related to the experience of confinement, I would like to bring here some examples taken from Memórias do cárcere and Papéis da prisão, respectively the prison memoirs by Brazilian novelist Graciliano Ramos, and the philological edition of the notebooks kept by Angolan writer Luandino Vieira during his imprisonment under the Portuguese colonial regime.
I will examine these texts as examples of witness narratives, arguing that they should be read and interpreted considering their historical and political contexts and their material conditions of production.