Between Inherited Violence and Rupture: Decoloniality and Childhood in Longe de Mim, by Lindevania Martins

Abstract

This article analyzes the short story Longe de Mim (2019), by the contemporary writer Lindevania Martins, from a decolonial perspective, with the aim of understanding how the coloniality of gender structures the protagonist’s experience of adultization. The narrative problematizes the universalized notion of childhood by presenting the trajectory of Josi, a young girl living in a context of social vulnerability marked by domestic violence and emotional instability. In this setting, childhood ceases to function as a space of protection and becomes permeated by demands that anticipate adult responsibilities and by forms of gender-based violence, imposing a premature understanding of the adult world. This study adopts a qualitative, bibliographic, and interpretive approach, conducting a critical analysis of the narrative based on the theoretical contributions of Walter Mignolo (2017), María Lugones (2020), Lélia Gonzalez (2020), and Rita Segato (2021). It is grounded in the hypothesis that adultization is not an isolated phenomenon but rather the result of historical legacies of subordination produced by coloniality. The analysis demonstrates that dynamics of exclusion, articulated through gender relations and socioeconomic inequalities, directly shape the experience of childhood. Furthermore, by inscribing an unexpected gesture of rupture, the narrative also points to the possibility of disrupting this cycle of violence, highlighting the potential of literature as a space for the critical problematization of the enduring legacies of coloniality.