"Era um traficante de carne humana": a perspectiva subalterna de Maria Firmina dos Reis

Abstract

This study examines the works of the Black Brazilian writer Maria Firmina dos Reis, focusing on the novel Úrsula (1859) and the short story The Slave Woman (A Escrava, 1887). It seeks to understand the violence of slavery from the perspective of subalternity, as experienced by a Black woman who lived within a slaveholding society, and to analyze how she portrayed enslaved characters as active subjects within the narrative. Furthermore, it explores how the social, political, and cultural dimensions of nineteenth-century Brazil, marked by the institution of slavery, were reflected in her writing. Particular attention is given to the ways in which subaltern voices are foregrounded in the author's works. Although Maria Firmina was not herself enslaved, her life was deeply shaped by the brutality of slavery, as the society in which she lived was structured by this system of oppression and dehumanization. By challenging the dominant discourses of her time, the author offers a critical and subaltern perspective on the period, making her literary works valuable historical sources. This study is organized into two chapters. The first chapter analyzes the method developed by historian Sidney Chalhoub in his study of the works of the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis, demonstrating how literature can be interpreted as a historical source. It also discusses key theoretical concepts that contribute to understanding the contemporary relevance of Maria Firmina's works, including standpoint, escrevivência (writing from lived Black experience), subalternity, and epistemicide, drawing on authors such as Gayatri Spivak, Djamila Ribeiro, Conceição Evaristo, among others. The second chapter examines selected excerpts from Maria Firmina's works, using the aforementioned texts as primary sources. Inspired by Chalhoub's approach to Machado de Assis, this study investigates the subaltern perspective in Maria Firmina's writing, her denunciation of slavery, and her pioneering vision of debates that would later be recognized as decolonial and anti-racist. Ultimately, this undergraduate thesis aims to analyze the works of a subalternized Black woman who, through literature, produced a form of resistance and gave voice to those who had been silenced, transforming her writings into historical documents that contribute to the understanding of Brazilian history.