Abstract
Due to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade to Brazil in 1850, slave proprietors had to adapt to a new situation. Literary books and the press discussed slavery and its reduced prospects. In this context, one can observe the emergence of a new sensibility towards slavery, in which the image of enslaved women played a central role. I argue that these discussions have a double meaning in that context, first, they connect to anti-slavery debates from other parts of the Atlantic; second, they relate to the Brazilian context, where the nation faced the need to reproduce slavery internally. I base my analysis on the works of two female-writers, the French Adèle Toussaint and the Brazilian Nísia Floresta. I discuss their works in dialogue with other contemporary literary sources as well as with articles from the press in Rio de Janeiro during the 1850s. This article is also a contribution to the works about anti-slavery ideas in the decades before the 1860s, and considers the involvement of women in such debates.
Keywords:
Female-writers; Brazilian slavery; nineteenth century