Virility and narrative identity in Mãos de cavalo, by Daniel Galera

Abstract

This article addresses Daniel Galera's protagonist in the novel Mãos de Cavalo (2006) taking as the starting point the perspective of narrative identity, elaborated by Paul Ricoeur (1991, 2010). It is necessary due to the narrative’s different temporal plans, which present the character with distinct features in youth and adulthood. The traces in which there is a greater discontinuity between the temporal planes concern the different ways the protagonist fantasizes and experiences his masculinity that requires the resumption of studies on this theme, such as that of Baubérot (2013), Connell (2016) and Venayre (2013). Therefore, it was possible to identify both the importance of virility patterns for the character and the implications of failure to incorporate these norms into his daily life. Hereof, the analyzes pointed to i) the centrality of two episodes in the novel where the perception or attempt to overcome cowardice provokes significant changes in the protagonist; ii) the theatricality of virile expressions as responses to normative patterns of masculinity; iii) the correlation between the use of anachronism and the constant presence of the theme of identity in Mãos de Cavalo. Finally, it suggests the convenience of studies related to this area in other novels by Daniel Galera.