The micro-histories in Zambeze waters: an interdisciplinary project in “The two shadows of the river” by João Paulo Borges Coelho

Abstract

This paper, part of the project “Memories in transit: dystopian displace­ments in three post-colonials novels”, guided by Professor Laura Cavalcan­te Padilha, intends to present an appraisal of the first book written by the Mozambican João Paulo Borges Coelho, As duas sombras do rio (2003), focusing on the interdisciplinarity, associated to the fact that Borges Coelho is a professional Historian. Therefore, we intended to make some con­siderations about the relationship between Literature and History, thinking about the reinterpretations proposed by the École des Annales (France, 1929), and also think about the social representation of some characters as a reflex of the Micro History (Italy, 1981), in other words, the presence of figures that represents one microcosm of Mozambique (the Zumbo region) as a way to problematize the post-independence.