SILVA, A. B. A.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/4094114322630184; SILVA, Ana Beatriz Aquino da.
Resumen:
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.
