Religious identities in the plural world: in the imaginary of “O outro pé da sereia”, by Mia Couto

Abstract

Discussions on religious pluralism and dialogue have brought, among their themes, the problematic of identities and, specifically, questions about religious identities. These questions concern the experience of belonging to a group, tradition or religious movement, expressed by certain representations, stressed by contrasts and mixtures in relation to other groups and traditions. This article discusses the theme of identity and how literary fiction thematizes these complex everyday issues. The reflections will be mediated by the voices of characters in the novel “O outro pé da sereia,” by Mozambican writer Mia Couto. These reflections will dialogue with theoretical contributions of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur from his work " O si mesmo como um outro". Personal identity and narrative identity are constituted by the so called idem and ipse dimensions that make it possible to demarcate the movement which is implicit in the development of the human personality. Identities are constituents of people, of social and religious groups as well as of their representations within the field of literary writing. The reflection will be presented as follows: i) Discussion on religious plurality and dialogue, highlighting the issue of identity; ii) Contextualization of the novel "O outro pé da sereia"; iii) Personal identity and narrative identity in Paul Ricoeur; Iv) Demarcation of identity types from characters in the novel.