A Postcolonial Focus on the Margins: Discussing Gender and Identity in the Literature of Women from the Americas

Abstract

Imperialism and colonial practices dominated an entire system of representations, configuring ideological structures guided by a supposed essentialism, which, in turn, justified the oppression of women and the black population based on gender and race. This thesis analyses theories that focus on a pluralistic understanding of the world. In the context of postcolonialism, the review of cultural criticism through the literature of prominent women of the Americas proposes a critical reading about the continuity between colonial relations of domination and oppression, underscoring the dual colonisation of women. The assessment of the works Child of the Dark (1960), by Carolina Maria de Jesus, The Bluest Eye (1970), by Toni Morrison, and The Handmaid’s Tale (1987), by Margaret Atwood, reveals a socio-historical understanding of colonialism and its repercussions in contemporary times. Likewise, they indicate the necessity to give more visibility to literary works written by, and about, subjects in the margins. The analysis of their authoral voices aims to identify how each of their perspectives reveal a literature of social engagement, allowing other subjects to become aware of social injustice still very present in the Americas, through the context of their nattatives. Thus, the primary objective of this thesis is to reflect upon the transformative potential of the literary text, as well as the origin and formation of the speech that expresses the subjectivity of the one who writes. Moreover, how in the relationship between writer and reader, the author’s voice compromised to the most diverse social realities have the highest potential of evoking other marginalized voices through literary practice.Keywords: Postcolonialism; Feminism; Inter-American Literature; Identity; Borders.