Teresa de Jesus e Preta Ferrreira: a escrita de mulheres como resistência na literatura de cárcere.

Abstract

In this dissertation, we identify that Brazilian prison literature presents a scarcity of works that address the voices of female characters in situations of incarceration. Although the theme of imprisonment is present at various moments in the literary history of our country, offering multiple testimonies that depict the numerous forms of violence suffered by detainees, we observe that the literary production of incarcerated women remains largely invisible. This scenario reflects the lack of studies on these authors, which makes it difficult to understand how female characters are represented in prison literature and how the voices of these women, who have lived in a system designed for men, are portrayed. This research aims to study the themes present in the works of Vera Tereza de Jesus and Preta Ferreira, Ela e a Reclusão: o prisioneiro poderia ser você (1965) and Minha Carne – diário de uma prisão (2020), respectively. We define the following research question to guide this dissertation: What are the main themes present in the analyzed works that belong to prison literature written by women and featuring female characters? Thus, the research question of this study arose from this observation, which highlights the need to expand the number of studies on female incarceration, especially considering the alarming increase in the number of imprisoned women—mostly Black and poor—in Brazil in recent years. This focus is justified not only by the scarcity of studies on the subject but also by the invisibility of women in the prison system, making the discussion about the female prison experience highly relevant. The general objective is to compare the narratives of these female characters based on aspects of race and social class. The specific objectives are: To describe the main aspects that structure prison literature written by women in a prison context; To analyze the expressive resources that represent the incarceration of women in the writings of Vera Tereza de Jesus and Preta Ferreira; To compare the roles of the protagonists in the works of Jesus and Ferreira, using as a parameter the concept of escrevivências and self-writing narratives. Additionally, this study draws on concepts such as escrevivências (Evaristo, 2020) and autobiography (Lejeune, 2008). To develop the research, we adopt a qualitative approach, conducting an interpretative-descriptive analysis of literary texts within the scope of prison literature and the representation of women in prison. The categories of analysis include the characterization of the protagonists, prison spaces, and the resistance of incarcerated women. The research is organized into three stages: a survey of the critical reception of the works and female prison literature in Brazil, an individual analysis of both narratives, and finally, a comparison of the themes and representations in the two books.