Hélia Correia, the word as revolution

Abstract

This paper intends to analyze the novel Villa Celeste, by Hélia Correia, published in 1985. Supported by a historical reference that goes from the Estado Novo to the 25th of April, the narrative follows the trajectory of Teresinha Rosa, a character with a credulity and a kindness that pushes her to the sidelines, appearing as an idiot, in the sense that this – as Isabel Pires de Lima (2018) pointed out – has in being outside the centrality, proposing another look at the world and another form of discursivity. In this sense, Hélia Correia's novel, by bringing such a marginalized figure to the fore, proposes another way of living in the world, giving life to the hope of the 25th of April and proposing, through Teresinha Rosa's discourse, another form of revolution.