"Vozes d'África": A Literary Pray

Abstract

Starting from Herman Gunkel’s study, that intended to map the compositional stages of the literary representation of the prayer (act of faith), we tried to demonstrate how Castro Alves, in his poem “Vozes d'África” obeys and/or transgresses the narratological path thought out by Gunkel. We also tried to show how the poet sticks to a biblical model as part of a didactical plan, intended to reach a layer of society that was indoctrinated by a biblical exegesis that legitimized the slavery of the African people. In his plan, however, Castro Alves uses the primary source of such exegesis, namely mythemes from the Judeo-Christhian tradition, to show the absurdity behind slavery.