The Representative Turn in Democratic Theory and Saramago’s Critique of Representation

Auteurs

  • Gustavo H. Dalaqua Universidade de São Paulo/USP

Mots-clés :

José Saramago, Representative turn, Sovereignty, Political representation, Democracy

Résumé

ABSTRACT

The critique of political representation put forward by José Saramago in Seeing has been interpreted as a defense of the incompatibility between representation and democracy. Saramago’s novel, however, can be read as a literary exemplar of the recent “representative turn” in democratic theory. Although Saramago’s rejection of representation and mainstream political parties in Seeing might give the impression that Saramago was completely against representation and political parties, a comparison of this novel with one of Saramago’s essays on democracy reveals that Saramago was seeking to investigate under what conditions democracy and representation are reconciliable.

KEYWORDS: José Saramago. Representative turn. Sovereignty. Political representation. Democracy.     

RESUMO

A crítica à representação política exposta por José Saramago em Ensaio sobre a lucidez foi interpretada como uma defesa da incompatibilidade entre representação e democracia. Pode-se, contudo, ler o romance de Saramago como um exemplar literário da recente “virada representativa” na teoria democrática. Embora o repúdio de Saramago à representação e aos partidos políticos tradicionais em Ensaio sobre a lucidez possa dar a impressão de que ele era totalmente contra a representação e os partidos políticos tradicionais, o cotejo deste romance com um dos ensaios de Saramago sobre democracia revela que Saramago buscava investigar sob quais condições democracia e representação são conciliáveis.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: José Saramago. Virada representativa. Soberania. Representação política. Democracia.

Recebido em 16/05/2018
Aprovado em 16/10/2018

Références

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Publiée

2019-02-05

Comment citer

DALAQUA, Gustavo H. The Representative Turn in Democratic Theory and Saramago’s Critique of Representation. A Palo Seco – Escritos de Filosofia e Literatura, São Cristóvão-SE: GeFeLit, n. 11, p. 18–22, 2019. Disponível em: https://ufs.emnuvens.com.br/apaloseco/article/view/10750. Acesso em: 18 déc. 2024.

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