A General Theory of Oblivion, by José Eduardo Agualusa:

a dialogue between fiction and History

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze A general theory of oblivion based on the intersection of the frontiers between history and fiction, since the story develops in Angola, during the period of two long wars and other important conflicts from this country. Therefore, it will reflect about the differences between what the fiction narrates and what the books of historiography and the ones of non-fiction narrates, because there are historical events of great relevance to the characters livings, interfered positively or negatively by such events, also including the ones that the author transformed into fiction ou mentioned. In such manner, it is possible to say that Agualusa revisits the past and flirts with what is real while creating his own story, and this process of rewriting the history of the nation through fiction points naturally to the role of cultural affirmation which literature was designed to play. It is necessary to highlight that a large portion of the Angolan history is found inside a certain unopened black box, and, for this reason, one of the alternatives available to question history was through romance, in which we will face memory paths and realize that mechanisms are added with the intention of rescuing the once blurred trajectory of some African countries. To do so, it is valid to have as theorical reference authors such as Linda Hutcheon, Rita Chaves e Maria Teresa Salgado, and others.