The Literary Language of Ondjaki’s Há Prendisajens Com O Xão: A Three-Dimensional Analysis in Dialogue with Manoel de Barros

Abstract

This contribution analyzes the poetic writing of Ondjaki (born Ndalu de Almeida) following the approach developed in Degli Atti (2023). In the context of the perspective we adopt, the meaningful learning of foreign languages is seen as exploiting the dynamics of interrelation between linguistic, literary and (inter)cultural education (BAGNO e RANGEL, 2005; BALBONI, 2008, 2012, 2018; BALBONI e CAON, 2015; CAON e SPALIVIERO, 2015; COSSON, 2020; MENDES, 2011; SPALIVIERO, 2020). Starting from the concept of language as language-culture (‘língua-cultura’: MENDES, 2011) and of literature as a language and a repertoire (COSSON, 2020), we propose an analysis of Ondjaki's work Há prendisajens com o xão ‒ o segredo húmido da lesma & outras descoisas (2002) ‒ which is characterized by a solid dialogic component with the Brazilian Manoel de Barros’s poetry ‒ illustrating how the construction of meaning takes place through the indissoluble interconnection between linguistic, literary and cultural levels. Study and reflection on the literary text is a tool to access this three-dimensionality of language and constitutes a precious opportunity for a language-culture insight experience for PFL (Portuguese as a Foreign Language) learners, contributing to training them as foreign language specialists and helping to build them as individuals.