Description
Book SynopsisThe nineteenth century was a period of peak popularity for travel to Latin America, where a new political independence was accompanied by loosened travel restrictions. Such expeditions resulted in numerous travel accounts, most by men. However, because this period was a time of significant change and exploration, a small but growing minority of female voyagers also portrayed the people and places that they encountered.
Women through Women''s Eyes draws from ten insightful accounts by female visitors to Latin America in the nineteenth century. These firsthand tales bring a number of Latin American women into focus: nuns, market women, plantation workers, the wives and daughters of landowners and politicians, and even a heroine of the independence movement. Questions of family life, religion, women''s labor, and education are addressed, in addition to the interrelationships of men and women within the structure of Latin American societies.
Women through Women''s Eyes is a perceptiv
Trade Review
Women through Women's Eyes is a fascinating, revealing and instructive document which captures the role of women in Latin-American society. . . . * Bulletin of Spanish Studies *
June Hahner's excellent volume provides attractive texts for classroom analysis and learning experiences. Women through Women's Eyes will be of interest to all historians who use travel accounts in teaching and writing about women's history in Latin America. -- Mary Karasch, Oakland University
This is a wonderful book! Hahner presents lively readings that reflect the experiences of women travelers, their views of Latin America, and the lives of Latin American women themselves. The choice of travelers includes women who were themselves from various national and social backgrounds, and who visited or lived in Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Brazil, or Chile. In addition to giving us a fascinating picture of the lives of women of all social classes and racial groups, we are treated to everyday life ranging from housekeeping to church-going to marriage customs to slave dances. This book is a must-read for any class on the history of Latin American women. It will whet appetites to read and re-read both the classic travelers and some newfound nineteenth-century voyagers. -- Susan M. Socolow, Emory University
Habner provides a rare look at the daily life of a wide range of nineteenth-century Latin American women. * Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies *
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Life among the Elite in Chile and Brazil Chapter 2 Peregrinations of a Self-Proclaimed Pariah Chapter 3 Women's Lives in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Mexico Chapter 4 A Swedish Novelist in the New World Chapter 5 A Parisian in a Slavocrat Society Chapter 6 A Naturalist's Wife and Educator in Brazil Chapter 7 A German Schoolteacher in Brazil Chapter 8 Keeping House in Northern Mexico Chapter 9 A Wellesley Graduate's Travels in Guatemala Chapter 10 A Naval Captain's Wife on Tour
