From Marielle to Conceição, from Conceição to Marielle: gestures that avenge and prosper

Abstract

Considering the (ins)urgency of adopting literary expression as a theoretical production, as is the case with Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda (2020), we start from the title of Danielle Magalhães' second poetry collection, Vingar (2021), to reflect on the gestures of erasure, acceptance and recognition expressed in the affective, poetic and political relationship that brings Marielle Franco and Conceição Evaristo closer together. To this end, we analyze the significance of these gestures in the tribute paid to the writer from Minas Gerais by the Rio City Council in 2017 and in the poem (re)written by Evaristo that opens the collection Um girassol nos seus cabelos: pemas para Marielle Franco (SILVA; MARA; KUBOTA, 2018), published in 2018. Based on these analyses, we argue that the articulation of these gestures is a parameter for approaching an important part of the poetry of contemporary female authorship: the interest in thriving and taking revenge on bodies considered by the state as not grievable. For theoretical support, we chose Butler (2020), Hollanda (2020), Magalhães (2021), Kiffer and Giorgi (2019), and Piedade (2017), among others.