Name: CAIO RAPHAEL PASSAMANI SIMÕES SILVA
Publication date: 07/08/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| BÁRBARA DEL RIO ARAÚJO | Examinador Externo |
| GASPAR LEAL PAZ | Examinador Interno |
| LUCIANA MOLINA QUEIROZ | Examinador Externo |
| LUIS EUSTAQUIO SOARES | Examinador Interno |
| VITOR CEI SANTOS | Presidente |
Summary: In Barren Lives, a novel by Graciliano Ramos, a family of migrants from Northeast Brazil
experiences the consequences of poverty, labor exploitation, and drought in a process that
reduces them to the condition of things. This dissertation argues that while reification
(objectification) dehumanizes the lives of these backwoodsmen by rendering human labor
invisible, the novel de-reifies them by making labor visible and restoring the humanity of the
characters. The aim is to investigate the author's aesthetics in light of the Brazilian
socioeconomic reality, as well as to analyze individually the reifying dilemmas experienced by
each character. Karl Marx and György Lukács — who expanded on Marx’s reflections on
reification — provide the theoretical foundation for this research.
Keywords: Barren Lives. Graciliano Ramos. Reification.
