Bernarda Ferreira de Lacerda as Another Aurora: A Trans-Generic Reading of the Soledades de Buçaco (1634)

Abstract This essay argues that Bernarda Ferreira de Lacerda responded in a highly innovative way to questions of genre and gender in her Soledades de Buçaco (1634). Through a careful reading of the literary models cited in the paratexts, I will not only point out her detailed knowledge of the classical tradition, but also demonstrate how she encourages to read her poem allegorically. On one hand, this will allow us to view the work as an ambitious poetic project and a truly original reflection on which is the best possible poetic form for the subject she deals with. On the other, my close reading of some of the (post-)classical citations will reveal the poet’s witty inversion of gender roles, in such a way that the Carmelite monks end up ‘deflowered’ by a personified Bussaco. Stretching the boundaries of genre and gender, Lacerda offers the reader a new poetic model.