Quand les femmes des favelas prennent la plume : la force de l’écriture comme témoignage chez Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-1977) et Conceição Evaristo (1946-…)

• Main Author: Silvia Capanema
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institut des Amériques 2020-10-01
• Series: IdeAs : Idées d’Amériques
• Subjects: Favela; writing; black women; slavery legacy
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/ideas/9552

The essay analyzes and compares the trajectories and the works of two Brazilian female writers born in the favelas. The article does not purport to offer a literary analysis of the works; rather, it aims at examining them as sources that can be used in social sciences and history. The essay will analyze the trajectories of these two black female social players who became writers in different contexts. While the genre of their works differs — Carolina de Jesus wrote a diary, and Conceição Evaristo wrote fiction (a contemporary novel with an important autobiographical dimension) — it is interesting to put the two women and their life stories in perspective. Their work allows us to gain considerable insight into the experience of women of African descent, into their lives in the Brazilian favelas and their marginal situation as seen from within. The wealth and originality of these works can also be accounted for by the fact these women are both witnesses of and players in a life on the margins; this is what they convey in type of literature that has a message, that tries to address social problems and transform society.