Alfonsina Storni, a woman with a powerful voice in Latin American poetry

Abstract

This paper, which is part of a broader study of the work of Alfonsina Storni (RETAMAR, 2004), highlights the criticism in her verses about the silencing endured by Latin American women at the beginning of the 20th century. To this end, 14 poems from the Antologia Poética organized by the author were selected (STORNI, 1956). The selection had as criteria the poems that most clearly depicted the poet’s commitment against the social injustice faced by women of her time. The analysis is based on the study of each poem, its relationship with the work as a whole and with the poet’s biography. The critical resources about Storni were also taken into account. The analysis shows that Alfonsina’s work not only contextualizes the role of the Latin American woman of her time socioculturally but also claims for her freedom by revealing the hypocrisy of the patriarchal society that sentences and silences her. Therefore, this study understands that the retrieval of Storni’s work is essential for contemporary studies not only on gender but on history, literature and the 20th century society since it promotes a critical and provocative perspective of social changes on behalf of the equality between women and men.