Besides the white dress: material and subjective spaces in the work of Julia Lopes de Almeida

• Grant number: 13/24610-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2014
• End date: February 28, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Luzia Margareth Rago
• Grantee: Gabriela Simonetti Trevisan
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research intends to work with representations of space developed in the work of Julia Lopes de Almeida. These spaces will be considered in two large groups: the material spaces and the subjective or affective spaces. The first refers to the way that the author discusses private property and labor relations, whereas the second is related to moral and to the social position of women, as themes of sexuality, marriage, adultery, love, prostitution, among others. In this direction, I aim questioning the relation between female subjectivity in the narrative of Júlia and the medical discourse that institutes the gender identities, between about 1880 and 1930, during the time the author wrote actively. To do so, I will use four of her novels: A família Medeiros (1892), A falência (1901), Eles e Elas (1910) and Correio da roça (1913). The analysis shall have for references some concepts of Michel Foucault and discussions brought by feminist studies.