The archetype of the bird in the poem “O canário”, by Severina Branca

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the poem “O Canário” by the poet Severina Branca, from Pernambuco, based on literary elements that may be understood as philosophical concerns of Branca, represented through the image of a caged canary, which can be interpreted as the archetype of the bird. Furthermore, we are interested in observing how the intertwining of the poem with certain biographical aspects of the poet — being a woman, a poet, marginalized, illiterate, and a former sex worker — marks her poetic production. In addition to these aspects, we highlight the importance of recognizing non-canonical literature produced by women outside official spaces of literary dissemination and reception. As our methodology, we will employ a bibliographic research approach with a qualitative character. Initially, we will undertake a reading guided by Literary Phenomenology (Maria Luiza Ramos) in order to analyze the formal aspects of the poem and to understand how the figure of the caged bird is constructed. Drawing on gender studies, through the notion of “women's captivities” developed by anthropologist Marcela Lagarde y de los Ríos; the decolonial studies on the perspective of Zulma Palermo; and of literary archetypes as studied by Eleazar Meletinski, we will conduct an analysis of the bird archetype. Furthermore, we will discuss Branca’s contribution to rethinking the literary canon and to recovering women's literary production, recognizing her role in expanding spaces of enunciation and in promoting the representativeness of singular identities through literature.