Female representations in José Saramago

a space for oppositional discourses from the canonical gospels to the gospel according to jesus Christ

Camila Carvalho Santiago

pp. 143-161

in: Carlo Salzani, Kristóf Vanhoutte (eds), Saramago's philosophical heritage, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Abstract

The chapter analyzes how Saramago, in The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, shows Jesus' utmost strengths through his representation of the women who strongly affect his life. It also argues that the attention given to the eroticized body of the women, in the novel, opposes the dualist view of the body-soul—which occurs in the fascist discourse of the Salazarean Portugal—and suggests a satirical tone toward Christian exegesis of the Canonical Gospels. As all the women, including Mary, his mother, and Mary Magdalene stand before the evidence that there is no godly salvation, they represent a redeemed view of women, whose lives play a fundamental role in the reinvention of the evangelical characters and in the total human experience of Christ.

Cited authors

Saramago José