Orlanda Amarilis e il folklore capoverdiano

Abstract

In this essay I analyze Soncente, racconti d’oltremare, published in Italian for the first time in 1995. Amarilis searches for her identity as a woman and as a migrant through the story and the description of the women of Cape Verde, which are closed in their own world. Soncente is composed of nine short stories, each of which is taken from one of Amarilis’s three previous books, that describe a certain kind of world: Cais-do-sodré, Rolando di sora Concha, Salamansa from Cais-do-sodré tè Salamansa; Luisa figlia di Nica, Canal Gelado, Xanda from O Ilhéu dos Pássaros e Jack-piè-di-capra, Bicode-lacre e Maira da Luz from A Casa dos mastros. This work may be rightly regarded as an emblem of Cape Verdean literature. Orlanda Amarilis devotes the majority of these nine short stories to the women of the islands, following the practices of oral storytelling and always remaining true to the suggestion of popular beliefs. She expresses her imagination through the structures of the family saga, often handed down from one figure that unifies several generations. Through the music, the dances, the colors, the songs and the superstitions, Amarilis illustrates a beautiful image of Cape Verde, despite the fact that she does not avoid dealing with all of the islands’ problems: an image that is like a woman