BATTLEFIELD: THE LITERARY FIELD AND WOMEN'S LITERARY DISCOURSE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY LATIN AMERICA

In this paper, I discuss the beginnings of women's writing in Brazilian literature, in which I presume the existence of a literary field in nineteenth-century Brazil that has not yet been established due the exclusion of women from social life. Women's writing is an historical process that cannot be described as a universal category in the same way that canonical writings of the period are referred to. For this reason, I consider works excluded from the official means of cultural circulation. I compare Brazilian writers with other Latin American women writers to highlight a dialogue between themes and modes of writing, especially about social and political issues. Women's writing demonstrates that women's views on social and political issues of their time are present in their literature and raises questions about the participation of women in the public life of new nations through literary culture.