Lila, a witch-child: representation of childhood in Elena Ferrante's My brilliant friend

We analyze the representation of childhood in Lila, a character from Elena Ferrante's My brilliant friend, a child defined by her irreverence. Since Lila's portrayal often links her to evil, we primarily draw on the studies of Silvia Federici, who argues that the image of the witch was con...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ferraz, Bruna Fontes, Pena, Eduarda Duarte
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)
Repositorio:Revista Investigações (Online)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:oai.periodicos.ufpe.br:article/265423
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.ufpe.br/revistas/INV/article/view/265423
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:representação da infância
caça às bruxas
literatura contemporânea de autoria feminina
Elena Ferrante
representation of childhood
witch hunt
contemporary literature by female authors.
representación de la infancia
caza de brujas
literatura contemporánea de autoría femenina.
Descripción
Sumario:We analyze the representation of childhood in Lila, a character from Elena Ferrante's My brilliant friend, a child defined by her irreverence. Since Lila's portrayal often links her to evil, we primarily draw on the studies of Silvia Federici, who argues that the image of the witch was constructed to sustain a capitalist and patriarchal society that required the subjugation of women. Marked by poverty and male violence, Lila grew embittered by her marginalization, developing a sharp and incisive manner of speech. Although she has been described as a "witch-child" for these traits, we argue that she ultimately could not resist the pressures of a community hostile to women.