O desvelar das flores: representações das mulheres japonesas e suas descendentes no livro Ipê e Sakura (1988), de Hiroko Nakamura

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the novel Ipê e Sakura: em busca da identidade (1988), by Hiroko Nakamura, considering its place within Japanese Brazilian women’s literature and its articulation with the historical novel genre. It is based on the assumption that this literary production constitutes a significant space for representing Japanese immigration to Brazil from a female perspective, historically marginalized in official narratives. Initially, the study discusses the historical novel as an analytical category, highlighting its relationship with historical writing and its ability to articulate memory and fiction. It then examines Nikkei women’s literature, emphasizing its emergence in the context of the 80th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil and its role in the construction of memorial and identity discourses.The analysis focuses on the characters Mizue, Hanako, and Naoko, understood as representatives of different generations of Japanese Brazilian women. Through these figures, the research investigates processes of identity construction, generational conflicts, and tensions between tradition and cultural adaptation. While Mizue and Hanako express values associated with the first generation of immigrants, such as gambarê and gaman, Naoko reflects the reconfiguration of these references in the third generation.Thus, Nakamura’s novel contributes to understanding Japanese immigration as a process marked by continuities and ruptures, highlighting hybrid forms of belonging within the Japanese Brazilian experience.