Domestic Servants in Literature and Testimony in Brazil, 1889-1999

Drawing from a variety of historical sources, theory, and fictional and non-fictional production, this book addresses the cultural imaginary of domestic servants in modern Brazil and demonstrates maids' symbolic centrality to shifting notions of servitude, subordination, femininity, and domesticity.

List of contents

Introduction - The Burdened Legacy of Domestic Servitude in Brazil 1. Júlia's Maids: Servants in the Cultural Imaginary of the Tropical Belle Époque 2. 'My Ol' Black Mammy': Childhood Maids in Brazilian Modernist Memoirs 3. 'How to Treat a Maid?': Misencounters with Servants in Clarice Lispector's 4. Writers in Aprons: Brazilian Servants' Testimonios

About the author

Sônia Roncador is Associate Professor of Brazilian Literature and Culture in Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Summary

Drawing from a variety of historical sources, theory, and fictional and non-fictional production, this book addresses the cultural imaginary of domestic servants in modern Brazil and demonstrates maids' symbolic centrality to shifting notions of servitude, subordination, femininity, and domesticity.

Additional text

“The new English-language edition is substantially
expanded, especially in the general introduction and at the start of each
chapter, to provide additional theoretical grounding and context for an
international audience. … This new edition makes the work fully accessible and
relevant to Latin Americanist scholars with limited knowledge of Brazil and the
Portuguese language, but it will also be extremely valuable for specialists in
Brazil, particularly those concerned with interracial and class relationships,
labor history, and women’s writing.” (Katherine Ostrom, Letras Femeninas, Vol.
41 (1), December, 2015)

Product details

• Authors: S Roncador, S. Roncador, Sonia Roncador, Sonia Roncador Roncador
• Publisher: Palgrave UK
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.02.2014
• EAN: 9781349469765
• ISBN: 978-1-349-46976-5
• No. of pages: 249
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > Romance linguistics / literary studies; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); B, Literature, Media Studies, Social Inequality, Cultural Studies, Society & culture: general, Media and Communication, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Literature: history & criticism, Social Structure, Literary studies: post-colonial literature, Latin America – Mexico, Central America, South America, World Literature, North America (USA and Canada), Culture—Study and teaching, Cultural and Media Studies, general, Palgrave Political Science Collection, Latin American Culture, Ethnology—Latin America, Postcolonial/World Literature, America—Literatures, North American Literature