For an aesthetic of friction — the utopian function of a memorial

Abstract

This text evokes an idea proposed by the Portuguese researcher Silvina Rodrigues Lopes in her book “Literature — defense of friction” where she proposes to think literature

in a certain counter-image function, opening new spaces of thought. I develop a reflection on the function of memorials and their relationship to utopias. I propose the idea of what I named as minimalist memorials. Brazil lacks memorials. For this reason, it is essential to evoke the resistance of some who do not close their eyes and mouths in the face of horror. If we still have any hope of a future, it is certainly due to those who do not abandon their dead and take care of the narratives that have been interrupted. This text gives some examples in this direction.