Utopia para quem?O desenvolvimento da literatura de utopia feminina

Abstract

Utopian literature, exemplified by works such as Plato´s The Republic (367 b.C) and Thomas More´s Utopia (1516), is founded upon a rationalistic patriarchal discourse that underestimates woman role as social being. The contestation of this ideology in the 60s by feminist women writers, revealed feminine literary utopias that since the XVII century have been criticizing woman representation in the societies in which they are inserted. Aiming at discussing such criticism, this article will analyze Margaret Cavendish’s The Blazing World (1666), Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland (1915) and Katharine Burdekin’s Swastika Night (1937). These works are key elements to understand both the evolution of utopian literature and woman role in society.

Key-words: Fantastic Literature – Utopian Literature – Feminism.