Linguagem e contexto: análise da rivalidade entre personagens no romance “A amiga genial “de Elena Ferrante

Abstract

In this study, we intend to discuss in the light of the concept of context, proposed by Van Dijk (2012) and based on literary reflections suggested by Candido et. al. (1998), the construction of the friendship relationship in the novel “My brilliant friend” by Elena Ferrante, focusing on the understanding of the rivalry between the characters Lenu and Lila. Therefore, we approach philosophical and psychological concepts to understand the attitudes towards the relationship between the characters, during certain moments of the novel. In this way, we will take the rivalry parameter under two aspects; rivalry in the sense of knowledge acquisition and rivalry related to an ideal of physical appearance considering Van Dijk's (2012) categories such as environment, event, participants and “myself”. We intend to analyze how some of the social and behavioral properties of the ongoing communicative events are integrated in the novel, for example, the roles of the two main characters in the novel, on the one hand, and the intentions and motivations on the other. As participants in communicative events in the novel, Lenu and Lila relate in various ways, taking on the roles of friends and contenders at the same time. Considering these roles, we seek to observe how the socio-cognitive category “rivalry between women” structures the communicative events in which the characters-friends act.