"Essa mulher não ajoelha, nem suplica": gênero e raça em A filha do doutor negro, de Camilo Castelo Branco

Abstract

The 19th century was a period of deep social changes in European countries, especially in the case of Portugal. In addition to living with the developments of the French Revolution, which occurred in the previous century, the Iberian country also lived with the consequences of the Liberal Revolution of Porto, which happened in 1820. From the various issues in vogue in the period, this work highlights the reorganization of the gender roles, a fundamental issue for the remodeling that took place in the period. Although the revolutions previously mentioned were motivated by the principles of freedom and equality, it is necessary to note that this was limited to men, since they aimed to limit the circulation of public spaces and the political participation of women in the 19th century. However, it shall be noted that not all women passively accepted this condition, even though submission was something imposed on them. Therefore, the professional writing of Camilo Castelo Branco helps us to understand this troubled period. Given his need for subsistence through the publication of newspaper serials, Camilo needed to dialogue with his heterogeneous reading public, in order to meet both the expectations of the faithful defenders of family traditionalism - who defended female submission - and those of young women aware of changes that were taking place in society. From the extensive Camilian work, the novel A Filha do Doutor Negro (1864) was chosen, a work little revisited by the Camilian critic. The work dialogues with the main social discussions of the period, mainly with regard to issues related to race and gender tensions. Based on this, this master thesis proposes to analyze in detail the way in which these concerns appear in the narrative of Camilo Castelo Branco, especially in the trajectory of the protagonist Albertina, in addition to establishing a dialogue with the 19th century context