Vergonha e dor em Uma branca sombra pálida, de Lygia Fagundes Telles

Abstract

The short story A pale white shadow, by Lygia Fagundes Telles (1995), tells the story of Gina from the perspective of her mother, the narrator-character. The narrative is  outlined by the work of confessions and flahsbacks, which, strategically, erupt between trips to a cemetery. Based on this technique, the reader discovers that Gina had committed suicide after her mother imposed a difficult (maybe, impossible) choice: maternal love or love for Oriana. The two young women, still inexperienced in the love experiences, took refuge in an intense homosexual relationship. In a close interlocution with psychoanalytic theory, we aim for an investigation capable of dissecting, from the narrative on screen, the reminiscences (traumatic wounds) that outline an affective triangle, quite precarious, whose vertices harbor meanings that, while claiming a symbolic covering, precipitate in pain and anguish.