O segredo das larvas: a espacialização do poder em um mundo distópico

Katia Bezerra

doi:10.17851/2358-9787.35.2.%p

Authors

Katia Bezerra University of Arizona | Tucson | AZ | USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1623-3648

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17851/2358-9787.35.2.%25p

Keywords:

critical dystopia, female characters, race, urban space

Abstract

Published in 2024, Stefano Volp’s novel The Secret of the Larvae follows Freya, a 17-year-old girl confined in Absinthe, a colony composed of people of the “color of night.” Set in Brazil in the year 241 after the Darkening – a period marked by electricity rationing and the collapse of the so called modern civilization – the work belongs to the realm of critical dystopia, provoking reflections on power structures and domination in contemporary society. This essay analyzes the spatial configuration in the novel, highlighting its dual role: as a structuring agent of socioeconomic inequalities and as a catalyst for survival and resistance strategies. Space is not merely a backdrop but an element that shapes subjectivities, power relations, and practices of exclusion and resistance. Additionally, the study addresses female protagonism and racial issues, emphasizing their central role in control dynamics and forms of resistance within this dystopian universe.

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