The Arrow of Odé
The Batuque of Rio Grande do Sul in the Literatura-terreiro of João Carlos de Odé (1948-2009)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-2096.2026.63651Keywords:
Literatura-terreiro, Afro-gaúcho literature, Batuque of Rio Grande do Sul, João Carlos de OdéAbstract
The relationship between literature and spirituality has often been addressed in literary studies through representational frameworks that tend to reduce African-derived traditions to thematic or symbolic fields. Departing from this critical impasse, this article analyzes Yemanjá quer falar contigo (1999), by João Carlos de Odé (1948-2009), a seminal work of Afro-Gaúcho literature linked to the Batuque tradition of Rio Grande do Sul. The study mobilizes the concept of literatura-terreiro (Freitas, 2011, 2021), articulated with the notions of tradition, orixality, and narrative as the transmission of experience, drawing on contributions by Eduardo de Assis Duarte (2008), Norton Corrêa (2016), and Hendrix Silveira (2014, 2019). The analysis of three short stories demonstrates that the work constructs a narrative ethics grounded in the fundamento, the body, and the authority of traditional speech, affirming Batuque not merely as a religious practice but as an integral way of life.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dênis Moura de Quadros (Autor)
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