Margareth Tassinari invites us on a visionary journey through “Por um vase de hydrangeas”, a captivating narrative that unfolds a social fabric where love and human connections emerge triumphant in a utopia free from prejudice and inequalities. Set on a cul-de-sac, this tale explores the essence of human relationships through characters whose lives reflect the nuances and complexities found beyond the confines of this idealized society.
How did the inspiration come to create the utopia portrayed in “By a Vase of Hydrangeas”? Was there any specific influence that led you to imagine this idealized society?
The dreams are long-standing. As for public spaces and the services offered, to make the lives of families, and especially women, more comfortable and comfortable, at the age of ten I idealized this city. I don’t know with what inspiration, but certainly due to the desire to live with less work and more leisure. Every night, in bed, I created a part of this city/village. I thought about building houses to accommodate families of different sizes, always leaving a room on the ground floor for grandparents or those who were ill. The following night, I created the collective laundry, with many machines and special boards for ironing clothes quickly and professionally. Families received clothes ready for use. On another night, it was time to think about the kitchens and dining rooms. Only those who wanted to cook at home could receive recipe books and instructions for better use of the food. I also imagined a place for making and repairing clothes, with reusing parts and free distribution or sale of them. There were libraries, playrooms, parks with children’s toys, leisure spaces, sports clubs and dance halls. It was enchanting to think about it every night, until I fell asleep. To these ideas, borrowed from Margareth, the girl, I added others, which life, work and maturity showed me as essential for a happier life. Thus, I expanded the school, strengthened the bonds of friendship, made the relationships between the people who formed the couples in the story romantic and subtly erotic.
The characters in his work represent a variety of social complexities, despite living in a city without prejudice and inequalities. How did you balance this duality between utopia and reality when building these characters?
Regardless of the social structure, human relationships, in any place and at any time (that’s why I didn’t specify them), can be quite harmonious, but they can also be conflicting, depending on the personality characteristics of each person, or due to some situation unfavorable, a setback, a misfortune or a tragedy. Thus, love, affection, desire, affection, solidarity, friendship and empathy appear as the most positive aspects of these relationships, mixed with lack of love, enmity, hatred, cruelty, negligence, villainy, lies, intrigue and jealousy, undesirable feelings for a good social life, but typically human. A good social structure that ensures that all basic needs are met, an excellent educational system, a safe city, with many leisure and entertainment options, certainly guarantee a better quality of life for the population and can be used as indicators of the degree of happiness of a people. But this cannot directly interfere with human relationships, whether in the family, school or social environment, reducing or eliminating friction and animosity.
Love is a central theme in “For a Vase of Hydrangeas”. How do you approach this theme in the narrative and what is the role of love in building bonds between the characters?
The different forms of love appear in the narrative as essential for relationships. The love for work appears very clearly in several characters who dedicate themselves to their tasks with care, benefiting others with their dedication, at school, in the restaurant, in the laboratory, at the university, in the garden, in sewing, in embroidery and in the kitchen. Friendly love appears at school, in the neighborhood and in work relationships.
The love between the different members of a family is also evident, in the relationship between siblings and the love, in the form of zeal, between grandparents and grandchildren. Romantic love is treated with special care, since it appears in the form of passion, enchanting, overwhelming and captivating, but ephemeral, which can simply fade and disappear, pushing the couple apart, or transform into love, a stronger feeling, which can either be long-lasting, if cultivated and nurtured to bring together those who are willing to remain together, despite hardships and setbacks, or which can, despite being strong, become frayed and not sustain a longer relationship.
In his work, there is space for cruel and selfish characters, which contrast with the general harmony of utopian society. What was your intention in including these characters and how did you use them to explore human contradictions?
The intention was to show that people are not perfect, that they often exhibit inappropriate behavior, that can attack, injure or harm others. Some act like this deliberately, others turn a blind eye and end up accepting other people’s misdeeds. A sister appears who deceives the customers and the others, despite their protests, end up accepting that she continues to act in this way. The same sister, out of jealousy, hopes that her sister’s friendship with a neighbor will break. There is an accountant who hides his mother’s income because he disagrees with the nature of her work. The importance of school and education in addressing unfavorable behaviors and providing guidance to students to improve their school life and contribute to their development is emphasized.
The height of cruelty appears in a couple, who are not even given a name and who treat their only daughter with inexplicable neglect and detachment. Despite this, the girl grows up, becoming attached to people who offer her some affection, surrounding herself with friends and managing to fall in love, be loved, love and offer her family the care and attention she never received. I don’t even know why I cared so much about this couple’s evil. Perhaps to show that, despite suffering so much in childhood, with their original family, people are capable of, with companionship, friendship and lots of love, moving on with their lives and creating a family with a model completely different from the one they knew.
As a clinical speech therapist and former university professor, how do you believe your training and experience have influenced your writing and your approach to character and plot construction?
In relation to writing, both academic activity and clinical work were essential for the development of different types of texts, respecting the cultured norms of the language in their production and correction. Writing with coherence and cohesion, having a reasonable vocabulary, knowing a little grammar, spelling rules and knowing how to use accentuation and punctuation marks made production easier, even though it was my first experience with literary text. Although I am not directly inspired by any student or patient to construct the characters and plots, certainly the fact of working with so many people with such diverse personalities, cultures, beliefs, values and habits contributed to me creating an absurd amount of characters, with such distinct and striking personality traits, without judging or classifying them.
In addition to entertaining readers, “For a Vase of Hydrangeas” also seems to have a reflective message about building a more respectful and happy society. How do you hope readers receive this message and what impact do you hope your work will have on their lives?
I have received reports from some readers who, in addition to imagining themselves walking through the market stalls, strolling through the city, listening to music and eating a breaded provolone at the nightclub, also believe that a quality school, a friendlier neighborhood and more marriages are possible. happy. I hope they realize that I am not dealing with a period that I have already lived through, but with a time that may still exist. A time when people can date whoever they want, without being laughed at, mocked or gossiped about. A time when people don’t need to pick up leftover food from the sidewalk at the end of the fair to survive. A time when children can eat as much as they want at school and go out with their classmates, without worrying about the lack of resources to pay for a canteen or transport. I also hope that they realize that small gestures, like keeping a gate open for a neighbor to enter and offering comfort to someone in a difficult situation, can transform people’s lives and change society, while fighting for the right to eat , living well and living with dignity is no longer a utopia.
Follow Margareth Tassinari on Instagram