Úrsula: decolonizing memories

Abstract

This paper analyzes Maria Firmina dos Reis’s novel Úrsula from a decolonial perspective, investigating how the narrative of enslaved characters acts as a mechanism for decolonizing our own collective memory. Although the novel’s central plot revolves around the tragic love story of two young people, the narrative focuses on the trajectory of historically invisibilized characters. From a perspective of place of speech, the writer exposes the exploitation and subjugation of Black subjects torn from their lands by colonial violence, restoring to them the narrative authority over their own experiences. Based on this information, this investigation is based on qualitative bibliographic research, guided by the ideas of authors such as Halbwachs (2013), Candau (2011), Mignolo (2005), and others. The results show that the accounts of the characters in the work Úrsula are not mere literary devices, but testimonies that constitute a counter-history, challenging the colonial logic that, even today, tends to silence Black protagonism in Brazil. Therefore, by restoring the voice to the enslaved, Maria Firmina preserves individual memories and challenges the reader to question their own historical heritage.