O POMAR DAS ALMAS PERDIDAS, DE NADIFA MOHAMED: UMA PROPOSTA INTERPRETATIVA

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the book The Orchard of Lost Souls, by Nadifa Mohamed (2015). To write the book, the writer returns to Hargeisa, capital of Mogadishu, Somalia; when still, child and his parents emigrated to England. Through literature, the objective is to bring to the West remnants of the work and history through the eyes of three women. The writer narrates the story of journeys and difficulties. Deqo, a nine year old orphan who lives in the Saba'ad refugee camp; Filsan, a military woman who proves to be tough and seeks professional recognition following her father's profession; Kawsar, a middle aged lady, who mourns her daughter and finds her daughter Hodan in Deqo. It can be observed that the female struggles present in the book do not concern a single woman, they are all, from childhood to old age, prey to the same misfortune. To dialogue with gender and social issues, we will have as a basis the feminist researcher Oyèrónké Oyěwùmí, with The Invention of Women (2021); the philosopher Djamila Ribeiro, with Place of speech (2019) and others. As theoretical reference is based on Roberto Schwarz's literary criticism, "The poisoned poetry of Don Casmurro" (1997), in Fredric Jameson, The political unconscious (1992), aiming at a better literary, historical and humanitarian understanding present in the work.