Spinoza in Ondjaki: the seence of desire in O Assobiador

Abstract

The literature of Portuguese expression produced in Angola after independence and the civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 2002, has channeled efforts beyond the political and identity militancy, thus elucidating universal themes that demonstrate the lyrism and the poetic expressivity of its authors.
This is what we evidence in Ondjaki, especially in his novel O assobiador (2016), built under the epiphany, mystery and desire mottos. Under the light of Ética (2009) by Spinoza, which highlights the origin and nature of affections, we apply an analysis of desire essence, designed by Spinoza as appetite, will or impulse, in characters’ behaviors and attitudes when dazzled by the whistle that swept the church and floods their hearts, reviving memories and unveiling secrets. Our theoretical apport will also incur in Angolese literary researchers such as Padilha (1995) and Macêdo (2008).