Emília Moncorvo Bandeira de Melo (1852–1910) was a Brazilian poet and play-writer who commonly wrote under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Carmen Dolores. Other pseudonyms she used were Júlia de Castro, Leonel Sampaio, Célia Márcia, and Mário Villar. She was best known for publishing short stories, novels, plays, literacy criticism, and journalistic essays or ''crônicas.''

Life

Emília Moncorvo de Figueiredo was born on March 11, 1852, in

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

to Dr. Carlos Honório de Figueiredo and D. Emília Moncorvo de Figueiredo. Raised by a traditional upper-class family, she received an education and initially, began writing as a hobby. She married Dr. Jerónimo Bandeira de Melo and had four children, including Cecilia Bandeira de Melo, a prominent and successful writer in the 1920s. Shortly after her husband death, she became a writer and frequently contributed to the newspapers ''O País'' and ''Correio da Manhã''. Her weekly column in ''O País'' featured ''crônicas and'' brief nonfiction pieces about Brazilian life. The ''crônicas'' demonstrated Dolores activism for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, arguing for fair wage legislation,

educational reform Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, th ...

, and the repealing of anti-divorce laws in Brazil.

Work and influence

In 1910, a collection of the ''crônicas'' was published in book form as ''Ao Esvoaçar da Idéia'' ("On the Fluttering of an Idea"). Her work emphasized women's rights to education, divorce, and women's work. She related feminist writers, such as

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

and

Nisia Floresta ''Nisia'' is a genus of planthoppers in the family Meenoplidae. Species in the genus are known from Africa, Asia and Australia. Most species are associated with monocotyledonous host plants, particularly sedges in the family Cyperaceae. Species ...

to women's roles in society. Dolores' works were well received in Brazil during her lifetime, though some critics found her style more "masculine" (i.e. more forceful and self-assured) than was thought proper for a woman. Critic writer, Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto, in an otherwise highly positive appreciation of her work, criticized the C''rônicas'' for their sharp social commentary.

Publications

* ''Gradações, 1894-1986'' (1897) * ''Um drama na roça (1907)'' * ''Ao esvaçar da idéia (1910)'' * ''A Luta''(1911) * ''Brazilian Tales (1921)'' * ''Almas complexas (1934)'' * ''Crônicas 1905-1910 (1998)''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolores, Carmen 1852 births 1910 deaths Brazilian columnists 19th-century Brazilian novelists 19th-century Brazilian poets Brazilian feminist writers Brazilian women columnists 19th-century Brazilian women writers 20th-century Brazilian novelists 20th-century Brazilian poets 20th-century Brazilian women writers Brazilian women novelists Brazilian women poets Brazilian women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Brazilian journalists 19th-century Brazilian journalists 20th-century Brazilian women journalists 19th-century Brazilian women journalists 19th-century Brazilian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Brazilian dramatists and playwrights