An incarnation embodied in me

In this unprecedented study of Stella do Patrocínio's poetry, the sound of this black woman's voice guides us through diverse scenarios, mapped by a surprising shift in space-time.

Stella do Patrocínio (1941-1992) was a Black Brazilian woman, creator of Falatório , a collection of speeches recorded in a series of audio recordings, mediated by Carla Guagliardi and Nelly Gutmacher between 1986 and 1988, at the Juliano Moreira Colony, in Rio de Janeiro. The publication, in 2001, of the book Kingdom of Animals and Animals is My Name – a transcription of part of these recordings, organized by Viviane Mosé – revealed and established, in an inescapable manner, Falatório as one of the fundamental poetics of contemporary Brazilian art.

Although Bruna Beber, in her essay "An Incarnation Embodied in Me ," does not delve into the merits of Stella do Patrocínio's complex legitimization as a poet, reading this essay encourages us to reflect on the fragility of her lyrical autonomy. The way Stella do Patrocínio combines poetics and prophecy in everyday speech has made her a unique example in the history of Brazilian literature, in addition to demonstrating her incredible ability to weave, in her voice, the intersection of different literary systems.

Stella do Patrocínio's biography, however, is riddled with gaps. It's unclear where she was born, only that she spent most of her life in two mental institutions. She entered the first institution at age 21, in 1962, after being approached on the street by police officers and taken to the Pedro II Psychiatric Center. In 1966, she was transferred to the Teixeira Brandão Center, a women's ward in the Juliano Moreira Colony, where she remained until her death in 1992. Since there were no records of her family, she was buried as an indigent in the Inhaúma Cemetery.

In total, Stella do Patrocínio spent thirty years confined. Because of this, she also became an important figure in the anti-asylum movement in Brazil, a movement that advances the agenda of psychiatric reform.