“A bruxa da palavra" e "A santa que levantou a saia": um diálogo entre poemas de Maria Teresa Horta e Hilda Hilst à luz da crítica feminista

Abstract

This study examines the dialogues between the poems of Hilda Hilst and Maria Teresa Horta, exploring the intersections and distinctions in the treatment of themes related to gender, the body and eroticism. The research uses as its literary corpus the works Da poesia (2017) and Eu Sou a minha poesia (2019), by Hilst and Horta, respectively, as well as the book Paixão (2021) by the Portuguese author. From these anthologies, we seek to understand how these writers articulate experiences of the feminine and desire, both in stylistic and thematic terms. To support the analysis, we draw on theoretical contributions from Feminist Literary Criticism, which problematize the specificities of literature written by women, as well as Gender Studies, which offer tools for thinking about the symbolic construction of the body and eroticism in the poetics of both authors. The Literature Review, as a methodology, enabled a comparative and critical reading, highlighting the points where the perspectives of Hilst and Horta converge - especially in confronting taboos and celebrating female freedom - and where they diverge, either due to the socio-cultural context of each author or the nuances of their views on sexuality and subjectivity. The conclusion is that the works have a profound dialog by subverting traditional discourses on the body and sexuality, but that they bear individual marks that enrich the field of female erotic poetry. The research reaffirms the relevance of both in the literary panorama and in the deconstruction of hegemonic patterns of representation of eroticism.