Narrative and Trauma in Vinte e Zinco, by Mia Couto

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate how the novel Vinte e Zinco, by the Mozambican writer, Mia Couto (2014), stages the traumatic experiences of the colonial period experienced by the characters in the work. Through concepts such as melancholy and mourning; staging and elaboration, it is intended to highlight the polyphony of voices that permeates the work, the connection between the historical discourse and the fictional discourse, and also, to highlight the heterogeneity in the identity construction of the fictional subjects, who claim their place of speech, their way of speaking to narrate and deal with the traumas caused by the violence of the colonial process. To foster our discussion, we will resort to studies by Denise Borille de Abreu (2018), on trauma theory; and Homi Bhabha (1998), to understand the concept of in-between.