Psychoanalytic considerations on identities based on the literature of indigenous women

Abstract

The connections between psychoanalytic theory and indigenous women's literature are rare and do not respond to the challenges posed to psychoanalysis forged on Brazilian soil, which is unable to recognise, in the specificities of its territory, ‘the unsettling’ that drives the advancement of theory. In response to this situation, this theoretical essay has focused on the writings of Freud and Lacan, supplemented by current articles that address indigenous authors and their respective publications. The initial exploratory survey identified the recurring theme of identity as a characteristic of literature written by indigenous women. As identity is a relatively foreign concept to the field of psychoanalysis, this article aims to highlight the use of the concept of identity within Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalysis. In connection with the signifier or about images, her approach directed the debate towards the Lacanian concept of semblance, adopted as a hermeneutic support for dialogue with indigenous women's literature. In these terms, it is believed that calling on the psychoanalytic field to construct forms of social bonds based on solidarity requires recognition that the validation of indigenous identities is not limited to the legitimisation of their otherness, since their identification as “other” has always implied their annihilation in favour of a supposed “equal”.