The erotic in time and fruits: a comparative analysis between Fidélia Cassandra and Manuel Bandeira

Resumen

This paper aims to analyze and compare the relationship between temporality and the appeal to the senses in the the lyric poetry of two poets from different contexts: the Pernambuco modernist Manuel Bandeira, in “Maçã” [Apple], and the contemporary Paraíba poet Fidélia Cassandra, in the poem “O Jambo” [The Malai Apple]. The study seeks to demonstrate the ways in which the lyrical subjects in their poems construct unique perceptions of temporality and gender, as well as the role the elements play in exploring poetic resources aimed at constructing and problematizing the erotic. To this end, a comparative analysis of the poems is conducted in order to highlight how female-authored lyrics positions itself in relation to male-authored lyrics concerning the representation of the aging female body. From this reading, reflections emerge on the lyrical perspective adopted in each text, considering the relationship established with the fruits that give title to the poems, the evocation of female body parts observed from both external and internal viewpoints, as well as the contrast between a lyric that apprehends reality through an experiential manner and another that contemplates it through a more empirical lens.