Tizangara women, a matter of gender: analysis of the female characters in the last flight of flamingo, by Mia Couto

Abstract

This article proposes that in O último voo do flamingo - as in several works by Mia Couto - there is the possibility of analyzing gender representations through the experiences lived by the characters of the novel: Ana Deusqueira, Temporina, Hortênsia, mother of the narrator and Ermelinda. The female characters of the narrative play an important role in history. Each guard its uniqueness and somehow allows us to make an analogy not fictitious figures, because much of history bring with them from their country, although often they represent this metaphorical form, through the supernatural, of myths and local traditions. Although situated in a context of post-independence Mozambique, women of Tizangara (fictional city) bring with them the charges of the patriarchal model, which was the basis of colonial discourse, whose fruits are still harvested mainly by women who had marked on the skin the evils of colonialism - even if this was not more. For this, we bring as theoretical contribution the author studies how Maria Lugones, Ella Shohat, Amina Mama, Gloria Anzaldúa, and also contributions from Mario César Lugarinho and Aníbal Quijano.