Drawing from a variety of historical sources, theory, and fictional and non-fictional production, this book addresses the cultural imaginary of domestic servants in modern Brazil and demonstrates maids' symbolic centrality to shifting notions of servitude, subordination, femininity, and domesticity.

Autorentext
Sônia Roncador is Associate Professor of Brazilian Literature and Culture in Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Inhalt
Introduction - The Burdened Legacy of Domestic Servitude in Brazil 1. Júlia's Maids: Servants in the Cultural Imaginary of the Tropical Belle Époque 2. 'My Ol' Black Mammy': Childhood Maids in Brazilian Modernist Memoirs 3. 'How to Treat a Maid?': Misencounters with Servants in Clarice Lispector's 4. Writers in Aprons: Brazilian Servants' Testimonios