Moacyr Scliar's Fiction Between the Past and the Future

Abstract

The plot of the novel Scenes of the tiny life oscillates between two narrative axes: the past and the present. In evoking the familiar memory of the protagonist, the first axis addresses elements of the Jewish tradition. After the diaspora experienced by it, the second axis develops in an agonizing present time. Certain metaphors enhance the author's keen gaze to the complex relationships of otherness arising from this context. Present throughout the novel, past-present antagonism produces continuous dialogue between tradition and diasporic Judaism. Such poles project the prospect of an uncertain and reified future. The protagonist goes through a supposed amnesic effect, a scene that presents the reader in a disconcerting way. Such a scenario may call into question the verisimilitude constructed in the narrative.