From “filha de branco” to “romance da ama negra”:

the (anti?) colonial course of Lília da Fonseca

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35520/mulemba.2025.v17n33e67271

Abstract

This paper aims to reflect on the trajectory of the Portuguese-Angolan writer Lília da Fonseca (1906-1991), based on her fictional texts in which she addresses the conditions of women in a space and time marked by the Portuguese occupation of Africa. From one text to another, we will seek to observe how she oscillates between an affirmation (even though reticent) of the presence and colonialist ideology to a profound questioning of the methods used to sustain the presence of Portuguese colonists. Taking into account, therefore, some theoretical assumptions about colonial literature (Ferreira, 1989; Laranjeira, 1997/1998; Mata, 2001, 2016), we propose an approach to female representations and their questions, to the point of questioning whether the author was not already assuming an anti-colonial stance.

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Author Biography

Jorge Vicente Valentim, Universidade Federal de São Carlos

Professor Titular de Literaturas de Língua Portuguesa do Departamento de Letras da UFSCar

Professor Permanente do PPGLit / UFSCar

Coordenador do GELPA (Grupo de Estudos Literários Portugueses e Africanos) / UFSCar

Bolsista Produtividade do CNPq

Bolsista BEP/FAPESP (Processo 2023/06790-5)

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Published

2026-05-15

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 33 (2025): Imagens de mulher em escrita africana de autoria feminina

Section

Ser mulher no período colonial, entre a vida e a escrita

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