Absence as inexperience and as a meaning for love in “Uma estrangeira de nossa rua”, by Milton Hatoum

• Main Author: Costa, Rafael Magno de Paula
• Publication Date: 2020
• Format: Article
• Language: por
• Source: Terra Roxa e Outras Terras: Revista de Estudos Literários
• Download full: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/terraroxa/article/view/40448
• topic: Absence; Inexperience; Love; Masculinity; Ausência; Inexperiência; Amor; Masculinidade

This article proposes an analysis of the short story “Uma estrangeira de nossa rua”, by Milton Hatoum (2010), discussing a proposal about the meaning of love as an absence. Therefore, from the concepts of contemporary philosophers, such as Zygmunt Bauman (2004) and Pascal Bruckner (2014), which defend the thesis about the death of love, this notion is verified through its easy realization. The character analyzed in question shows an obsessive passion, however, the lack of experience prevents him to go after his love. Thus, the absence of experience and the absence of love cause an opposite effect about “death of love”, because the character’s inexperience keeps love alive in the character’s mind. This living love is explained, according to the psychologist Nadiá Paulo Ferreira (2004) as a feeling of loving frustration.