Cristina Ferreira-Pinto, Gender, Discourse and Desire in Twentieth-Century Brazilian Women’s Literature

Central to this book is the argument that Brazilian women’s literature has evolved against a literary establishment in which gender and race play significant roles. In the nineteenth century, both Romanticism and, later on, Realism and Naturalism shaped expectations and accepted forms of behaviour for both the white and the coloured woman. Myths of femininity promoted in these periods held a firm grip well into mid-twentieth century and their pervasive influence lingers on to the present day...