100 SONETOS PARA A PRINCESA DO MEARIM: Uma proposta de leitura da poesia de Filemon Krause

Abstract

This research analyzed the work 100 Sonetos para a Princesa do Mearim (2021), by the poet Filemon Krause, focusing on the relationship between memory and perception of the landscape, seeking to understand the author's feelings towards the city of Pedreiras, Maranhão. In addition, it explored the geographical elements present in the work, which, through an artistic approach, portray the local historical formation and a deep sentimentalism linked to the environment. The discussion in Krause's poetry reflects, largely, a reaffirmation of local identity, including the perception of the landscape and collective memory, fundamental aspects to understand the historical context and the emotional (topophilic) bonds that permeate the work. To this end, the selected corpus included the following poems: Church of Saint Benedict (1993), Fishermen of the Mearim River (1994), Cine Pedreiras (1995), Flood of the Mearim River (1995), The Poet and the Mearim River (1995), Golada Street (1995), Song to Pedreiras (1996), Flowers’ Dam (1996), Mearim River - The Nile of Pedreiras (1998), Pedreiras - The Eternal Princess of Mearim (1999), João do Vale - The Maranhense of the 20th Century (2001), Pedra Grande - Historical Heritage of Pedreiras (2014), Conceição de Pedreiras Boat (2015), Pedra Grande - The Colossus of Rhodes in Transwal (2017), The River of My Land (2017) and Pedreiras - The Centennial Princess (2019). Thus, the analysis highlighted the interconnection between the poetic work and topophilia, showing how the elements present in the poems relate to collective memory, interpreted as a set of symbols shared by the group. The general objective of the research was to understand how memory, identity, and perception of the landscape are represented in Filemon Krause's poetry. As specific objectives, the investigation sought to relate the work to memory and perception of the landscape, identify the connection between the poems and the topophilia of the city, and explore how literature, identity, and memory manifest themselves in the author's poetic creation. The investigation was based on theories by Yi-Fu Tuan (1980), Jacques Le Goff (1992), Maurice Halbwachs (1990), Michael Pollak (1992), Octavio Paz (1982), and Jean Cohen (1974), which provided a theoretical basis for discussing the links between poetry, space, and collective memory in Krause's work.