Abstract
This article analyzes the character of Luzia in the Brazilian novel Luzia-Homem (1903), by Domingos Olímpio. Trained by her father to become a cowboy, Luzia has uncommon physical strength and receives the nickname Luzia-Homem. While literary critics have analyzed the impossibility or inappropriateness of Luzia’s masculinity, I examine the relation between her femininity and masculinity. The theoretical framework is based on Jack Halberstam’s research on female masculinity, Lynne Segal’s and Raewyn Connell’s analyses of masculinities, and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality. I argue that Luzia performs a female masculinity that suits the most-desired masculinity of her social context, although she is rejected by the townspeople because her heterosexuality is not visible. Following an intersectional approach, I suggest her death implies that poor black women who perform female masculinities cannot have a future. Traditional society prevents the complex intersection of female masculinity, skin color, and class that Luzia represents and transgresses.
Resumo
Abstract
This article analyzes the character of Luzia in the Brazilian novel Luzia-Homem (1903), by Domingos Olímpio. Trained by her father to become a cowboy, Luzia has uncommon physical strength and receives the nickname Luzia-Homem. While literary critics have analyzed the impossibility or inappropriateness of Luzia’s masculinity, I examine the relation between her femininity and masculinity. The theoretical framework is based on Jack Halberstam’s research on female masculinity, Lynne Segal’s and Raewyn Connell’s analyses of masculinities, and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality. I argue that Luzia performs a female masculinity that suits the most-desired masculinity of her social context, although she is rejected by the townspeople because her heterosexuality is not visible. Following an intersectional approach, I suggest her death implies that poor black women who perform female masculinities cannot have a future. Traditional society prevents the complex intersection of female masculinity, skin color, and class that Luzia represents and transgresses.
- Copyright © 2019 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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