THE BLACK WOMAN IN THE WORK “A FALÊNCIA” BY JÚLIA LOPES DE ALMEIDA: ANALYSIS OF THE SANCHA CHARACTER AND THE ROLE OF THE BLACK WOMAN AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Abstract

This article analyses the representation of Black women at the end of the nineteenth century, a period in which Brazil was undergoing major social transformations, among them the decline of coffee production in the south of the country. Such changes were reflected in social values and customs. Although slavery had already been abolished during this period, former slaves now faced other hardships: abandonment by the state, persecution by law enforcement authorities, and a lack of housing and employment. Within this context, we will examine the character Sancha in the work of Júlia Lopes de Almeida, who, despite being a woman, managed to publish significant works for her time—works that allow us to access the reality of women from different social classes of that era. Through Sancha’s perspective, we enter the lived experience of a Black woman and all her harsh struggles to survive in a period when being a woman was already far from easy; being a Black woman, then, amounted to proof that life itself would be an ordeal. For this purpose, we draw theoretical support from the studies of bell hooks (2019), Schwarcz (1987), Djamila Ribeiro (2019), Gonzalez (2020), among others, who throughout their personal and academic trajectories have made great efforts in the struggle for the visibility of Black women and for the recognition of their bodies as worthy and capable of occupying every space in society.