A fé desmitificada: representações da religião católica no romance a Cocanha, de José Clemente Pozenato

Abstract

Taking the novel A cocanha (2000), by José Clemente Pozenato as our corpus, this research aims to demonstrate the demystification process of the Catholic religion present in the context of Italian immigration at the end of the XIX century in the Northeast region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Contrary to other predominant historiographic and literary narratives that exalt the religion of the Italian immigrants, and that in many cases is even considered responsible for the success of the colonization, the fiction narrative of Pozenato offers alternative versions of the History presenting a Catholic religion demystified. In order to reach that objective, an interdisciplinary theoretical foundation is employed that includes the fields of History, Theology and Philosophy. This historical survey assists in the understanding of the context in which the characters are inserted, as well as the identification of past events that in different ways contributed to the mystification of the Catholic religion. The theological foundation offers key elements to understand components of the catholic doctrine and how it subsequently affects the behavior of their followers. In the field of philosophy, the concept of “myth” of Mircea Eliade is used to understand the mystification and the demystification process present in the novel, as well as the concept of “suffering” of Ludwig Feuerbach as another important factor that deconstruct the religion of the Italian immigrants.