The prison obsolescence in Ana Paula Maia’s novel Assim na terra como embaixo da terra

Abstract

Based on the analysis of Ana Paula Maia’s novel Assim na terra como embaixo da terra (2017), the representation of the obsolescence of the prison system and its permanence as a reiteration of an ongoing colonial process and constant reformulation is discussed. The narrative takes place, mostly, in an isolated penal colony, at an inaccurate time and region, but with strong indications of being a representation of contemporary Brazilian Central West. In this realistic narrative, the passage of time undergoes a significant dilation, from the psychological point of view, given the state of anguish of waiting for prisoners (convicts and officers), confined in restricted space and activities. From a chronological point of view, literal layers of experiences unfold a relevant question: on the one hand, the passage of time is observable in the wear and tear of matter, and on the other hand, relationships change in an apparent way, but remain essentially unchanged. It is from this movement that the urgent discussion about prisonal obsolescence emerges in the work. To support this discussion, the consecutiveness between the plantations territory and the prisons was contextualized as a reflection of the institutionalization of coloniality and racism in the Americas, in dialogue with the historicization proposed by the American philosopher Angela Davis, and with the concept of plantation memories, coined by the Portuguese philosopher Grada Kilomba, relevant to situate the various discursive layers that articulate to bar the conquest of full citizenship for racialized people.