O literário feminino nos romances oitocentistas de Délia: tradição e ruptura

Abstract

This research presents a study on Maria Benedita Câmara Bormann’s literary work, who published in Rio de Janeiro court from late 1870’s to 1895 under the pen name of Delia, and as other female writers of that period Bormann was silenced by Brazilian literary canon. It aims at outlining the writer’s literary path – Delia’s seven novels: Madalena (1879), Two sisters (1883), A victim (1883), Aurélia (1883), and Lesbia (1884) rescued from literary oblivion by scholar Norma Telles from 2009 to 2014; Angelina (1886) rescued by us exclusively to this study; and Celeste (1893) rescued by Brazilian Book National Institute in 1988. In these works the writer built female characters either in consonance to the literary tradition of the time or proposing a break from the female role they were submitted. To contextualize Delia’s work, this research also develops a study on the history of women following the model of patriarchal society, telling about female role in specific contexts from different regions of Brazil, from the colonial period to late 19th century, being those women in their majority submitted to the supreme power of male figure. For dealing with a still little-known writer in the academic field and corroborating the proposal of rescuing 19th century female writers, we present our reading of those novels setting a parallel between female authorship literature and the building of female characters in narratives not very much common for the time. From that approach, we suggest a possible literary project in accordance with feminist criticism that was to be developed from the second half of 20th century reflecting on important themes as education for women, marriage, maternity and divorce, and female financial independence.