Author: Ricardo Rato Rodrigues, Instytut Filologii Romańskie (Institute of Romance Studies), Uniwersytet Jagielloński (Jagiellonian University) - Academia.edu, Google Scholar, ResearchGate

Abstract: »Opening this part, Ricardo Rato Rodrigues’ chapter, “Eroticism as Resistance and Subversion: The Case of the ‘Three Marias’ and Their Book New Portuguese Letters,” revisits one of the most important feminist literary interventions of the twentieth century, produced at the height of Portugal’s Estado Novo dictatorship. Written in 1972 by Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta, and Maria Velho da Costa, the text not only reimagines the 17th-century letters of the Portuguese nun Mariana Alcoforado, but also fuses poetry, prose, and political commentary in a radical rewriting of female sexuality. Rodrigues’ reading highlights the historical specificity of the book’s reception—including its censorship and the authors’ prosecution—and demonstrates how the text challenged authoritarian structures by foregrounding women’s voices, desires, and bodily autonomy. Situating New Portuguese Letters within both its original context and contemporary theoretical debates, the chapter underscores the enduring radicalism of the erotic as a language of feminist resistance.« (Source: Aleksandra Musiał-Pudełko, Nina Augustynowicz and Agnieszka Podruczna. »Introduction.« Erotic Discourses in History, Culture and the Arts. Edited by Aleksandra Musiał-Pudełko et al. New York 2026: 6-7)

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Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Portugal | Literature: Portuguese literature / New Portuguese Letters | Sex and the law: Rape / Incest, Rape in Portugal