The poetics of Angélica Freitas in Um útero é do tamanho de um punho: Women's voices, body-territory

Abstract

This article discusses the book Um útero é do tamanho de um punho (2017), by Brazilian poet Angélica Freitas, from a decolonial, feminist and transfeminist perspective, drawing upon a theoretical corpus comprising Federici (2017), Butler (2019), Vergès (2020), among others. Through close reading and analysis, it is possible to identify a composition of voices that generates a certain polyphony in the poems, whose central discussion revolves around the ideal of femininity, stemming from social discourses on female bodies. Through sarcasm and irony, Freitas constructs a poetry collection comprised of subjects that permeate the social imaginary concerning women, while also employing stylistic devices to highlight the ways in which misogynistic and sexist social discourses remain present in contemporary life. Based on a reading of the book, this research aims to discuss respect for the condition of autonomy and the discursive perspective of the body as territory and/or dwelling, in a logic that moves from a house-body/body-house dynamic of agency to laughter as a form of insubordination, this work problematizes discourses that shape the social performance which tends to reduce the feminine in its broad complexity and plurality.