The father-son relationship with Down syndrome in O filho eterno and Mallko y papá

abstract Literature, as noted by the father character in the novel, O filho eterno by Cristóvão Tezza, did not bring to the literary scene protagonists with Down syndrome. In light of this, the present article discusses two contemporary literary works: O filho eterno, by the Brazilian author Cristóvão Tezza (2007) and Mallko y papá, by the Argentine author Gusti Rosemffet (2016). Both works portray the daily lives of parents who have children with Down syndrome. The article underscores how the relationship between fathers and sons with Down syndrome emblematizes the social process of accepting difference. The theoretical references will be Bakhtin (1979; 2003), who will be used to reflect on the time and space of enunciation; Perrone-Moisés (2016), whose work will be employed to understand the implications of the auto-fictional genre; and Gilbert (2017), whose text will assist us in thinking about the representation of Down syndrome in cultural productions.