Crisis of Experience and Melancholy in Aos 7 e aos 40 (2016) by João Anzanello Carrascoza

Abstract

This article investigates the ways in which melancholy shapes the novel Aos 7 e aos 40 (2016) by João Anzanello Carrascoza, through the lens of the contemporary crisis of experience. The distinction proposed by Walter Benjamin between Erlebnis (lived experience) and Erfahrung (genuine experience) proves essential for understanding the melancholic elements that permeate the narrative, such as the fragmentation of the storyline, the protagonist’s deficiency in meaningful experiences, his misalignment with reality, and the prevailing sense of disenchantment. The theoretical framework is grounded in the writings of Walter Benjamin (1994), Byung-Chul Han (2023), Susana Kampf Lages (2016), and Jaime Ginzburg (2013), establishing critical connections between the fragmentation of experience and the formation of melancholy within contemporary literature. In Aos 7 e aos 40, melancholy is structurally embodied through narrative fragmentation and the alternation between episodes from the protagonist’s childhood and adulthood—an unnamed character throughout the novel—reflecting an ongoing search for meaning in his adult life. The recurrent feelings of loss, absence, disenchantment, and alienation, particularly evident in the protagonist’s inability to recognize himself in his own actions, underscore his emotional detachment and the scarcity of meaningful experiential engagements. By aestheticizing and fictionalizing the pervasive sense of loss and the disconnection from reality, Carrascoza’s novel offers a profound literary representation of melancholy, while simultaneously articulating a broader critique of the disintegration of traditional modes of constructing meaning in the contemporary world.