Feminism in Colonial Latin American Literature

This article looks at the history of feminine resistance during pre and post colonial Latin America. It provides a basic framework of the struggle against patriarchy.

While it talks about contemporary Latin American History, it also introduces many prominent female figures in colonial Latin American literature. It also includes an intriguing excerpt from one of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz's redondillas.

Colonial Latin America: A Documentary History is a great source of information regarding Latin American History in general. On page 207, Chapter 31 is dedicated to Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and her writing and influence and contributions of the time. It also includes her Letter to Sor Filotea , which is a well-known and celebrated autobiographical answer to her critical, religious higher ups.

This a translated version of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz's iconic Letter to Sor Filotea. This piece is renowned for its arguments laced with sarcasm and irony and is an amazing piece of feminist literature.

This volume presents a selection of translated public and private letters, written by Spanish officials, merchants, and ordinary settlers, aiming to illuminate the panorama of sixteenth-century Spanish American settler society and its genres of correspondence. Letters written by Native Americans, a few of whom at this time were beginning to practice European-style letter-writing, are also included. On page 15, Isabel de Guevara chronicles one of the first recorded documents in Latin American history that illustrates the oppression of and fights for the equality of women.

This is an English translation of the empowering poem You Men by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. It is a great piece of feminist historical literature.

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz