Women to the fore: narratives about the experience of Portuguese emigration in the 19^th century

Abstract

In July 10^th 1862, the emigrant/immigrant Maria Eugênia, a resident of Freguesia de Ribeirinho, in Ilha Terceira, when embarking on the ship Patacho Esperança heading to Rio de Janeiro, declared that she owed to its captain the amount of 70 pesos, referring to a ticket to stay in the ship’s bow. As well as Maria Eugênia, an illiterate single woman who had no surname, many other Portuguese emigrants/immigrants moved illegally to Brazil during the second half of the 19^th century. However, due to the low number of emigrant/immigrant women in this context, their experience has been dismissed by historiography, in favor of analyses focused primarily on male emigrants/immigrants. In an attempt to unveil such experiences, this paper has the objective of problematizing, through consular documentation and bibliographical resources, the stories produced about the emigrant/immigrant women.

Keywords:
portuguese women; clandestine emigration/immigration; travel narratives.