Entre a crítica abolicionista e a conivência patriarcal: o feminino sob vigilância e a dominação de gênero no romance Fantina: Cenas da Escravidão (1881)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the intersections of race, gender, and class in nineteenth-century Brazil through the novel "Fantina: Cenas da Escravidão" (1881) by Francisco Coelho Duarte Badaró. The study investigates the problem of how elite abolitionist literature reproduces patriarchal and racist structures of domination over the female body while maintaining a critical stance on slavery. The research aims to understand the representational nuances of women in the plot, evaluate the impact of legislation on reproductive control, and map domestic spaces as microcosms of oppression. The methodological approach intersects Social History and Literature, employing the concept of elite abolitionism and intersectional feminist theories to examine the work as a historical document revealing the mentalities of its time. The results show that characters such as the protagonist Fantina, the mistress Dona Luzia, and the enslaved Tia Rosa operate under a logic in which purity, authoritarianism, and bargaining constitute active gears for the maintenance of seigneurial power. The work reveals the inherent contradiction of abolitionist romanticism, an environment where the denunciation of violence coexists with the fetishization of the Black woman, limiting her agency and transforming her fidelity into an instrument of annihilation. The investigation concludes that the novel acts as a reflection of the continuity of exclusionary mechanisms, demonstrating the solidification of the foundations of structural inequality in Brazilian society.