Psychoanalytic Considerations on Identity Based on Indigenous Women’s Literature

Abstract

Engagements between psychoanalytic theory and Indigenous women’s literature remain rare and insufficient to address the challenges faced by a psychoanalysis developed in the Brazilian context, which has been unable to recognize, within the specificities of its own territory, the “uncanny” that drives theoretical advancement. In response to this scenario, this theoretical essay prioritizes the writings of Freud and Lacan, complemented by recent articles that address Indigenous women authors and their respective works. The initial exploratory survey identified the recurrent presence of identity-related issues as a defining characteristic of literature authored by Indigenous women. As identity is a concept foreign to the psychoanalytic field, this article aims to problematize its use within Freudian–Lacanian psychoanalysis. Whether articulated through the signifier or referenced through images, this discussion led the debate toward the Lacanian concept of semblance, which is adopted here as a hermeneutic framework for dialogue with Indigenous women’s literature. From this perspective, the article argues that calling upon the psychoanalytic field to contribute to the construction of solidaristic forms of social bonds requires recognizing that the validation of Indigenous identities cannot be reduced to the legitimation of alterity alone, since their identification as the “other” has historically implied their annihilation in favor of a presumed “same.”