A figuração fantástica em A Rainha do Ignoto (1899) de Emília Freitas

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing the supernatural aspects of the novel A Rainha do Ignoto (1899), written by Emília Freitas. Although the plot is set in the countryside of Ceará, and eventually addresses social issues, the supernatural and unusual situations are the focus of the narrative. For this reason, A Rainha do Ignoto can be considered one of the first fantastic novels written by a Brazilian female author, and also one of the first works that flirts with science fiction and utopias in our country. In this sense, we believe that a thorough analysis of Freitas’ book must be read through the lens of the theories of the fantastic. We hope to add our own reading of the novel to the most recent efforts that look for an identification of the supernatural aspects of Freitas’s novel. The reading will focus on the construction of the protagonist, Diana, as an archetypical character from the fantastic literature in order to demonstrate how her mysterious, almost supernatural behavior contributes to define it as a work that belongs to the tradition of the fantastic in fiction.