Fuvest: Books by women only must face resistance – 11/22/2023 – Education

The decision by Fuvest, which selects new students from USP (University of São Paulo), to require a reading list only with works written by women in the entrance exam for the next three years is important for inclusion, but may provoke resistance from students and teachers. The conclusion comes from experts interviewed by the report.

The new list, anticipated by Sheetis valid from the test that will be carried out in 2025 for admission to university in 2026 and leaves out authors such as Machado de Assis, a mandatory presence in relations until this year.

“Fuvest’s initiative is extremely important. In Brazil, female authorship has always been left aside. In schools, women authors only begin to study from modernism, with Clarice Lispector or Lygia Fagundes Telles”, says Maria de Lourdes da Conceição Cunha , literature teacher at Colégio Objective.

Cunha says he believes that the candidates will really like the writers on the list. “It is very diverse, with traditional and current narratives, all of high quality.”

The following authors will be among the mandatory readings: Conceição Evaristo, Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida, Julia Lopes de Almeida, Lygia Fagundes Telles, Narcisa Amália, Nísia Floresta, Paulina Chiziane, Rachel de Queiroz and Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen.

For Vinicius Teixeira, literature professor at the Oficina do Estudante Course and College, the inclusion of names is not only important, but revolutionary as it confronts Brazilian structural machismo.

Francielly Baliana, literature teacher on the Poliedro course, however, predicts a certain resistance from students and teachers in relation to the requirement that only works written by women in the coming years could provoke a

“Many students and families will find it unnecessary. Even some professors are attached to certain authors and don’t understand that literature also moves forward, transforms”, says Baliana, highlighting that this change at USP will be an opportunity for Brazilians to look at it from the perspective of women who will be represented.

“It’s showing boys, mainly, other female types and perspectives. Many grow up reading and seeing a stereotype of women in the cinema, and now we will show other female realities.”

The professor states that USP has always been concerned with the canon (literary standard), requiring classic works, unlike Unicamp, which had already admitted contemporary and foreign authors.

“It is symptomatic that, throughout literature, when we repositioned space in the canon, many women were recognized, but did not remain, like Carolina Maria de Jesus. But why did she not remain? It is a kind of repulsion”, he says. “It’s a value historically constructed by men, for men and about men.”

Baliana also highlights that this demand for other authors will give the opportunity to understand the complexity of what it means to be a woman in the country.

“Clarice Lispector does not represent a large part of Brazilian women. She will bring an issue from the point of view of a white woman, with foreign and northeastern issues, but she does not take into account the black reality. She is not representative of that.”

Regarding the discussion of whether the authors will play the role hitherto occupied by the classics, the professor states that she believes so. And she cites the novelist Julia Lopes de Almeida (1862-1934) as a worthy representative of her literary style.

“Machado de Assis is the great founder of the ABL (Brazilian Academy of Letters), where Julia Lopes de Almeida was denied a chair. But in terms of history and the 19th century movement, replacing Machado, Julia has a lot to say about that time too.”

The professor recognizes that this change by Fuvest is important, but suggests that, in the future, the range be opened to indigenous, quilombola and transsexual authors, so that all women are covered. “It’s a breakthrough.”

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FUVEST BOOKS

See below the complete lists of mandatory readings to enter USP in the coming years

Fuvest 2026
“Humanitarian Booklet” (1853) – Nísia Floresta
“Nebulas” (1872) – Narcisa Amália
“Memories of Martha” (1899) – Julia Lopes de Almeida
“Stone Path” (1937) – Rachel de Queiroz
“The Gypsy Christ” (1961) – Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
“As Meninas” (1973) – Lygia Fagundes Telles
“Balada de Amor ao Vento” (1990) – Paulina Chiziane
“Song for Lullaby Menino Grande” (2018) – Conceição Evaristo
“The Vision of Plants” (2019) – Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida

Fuvest 2027
“Humanitarian Booklet” (1853) – Nísia Floresta
“Nebulas” (1872) – Narcisa Amália
“Memories of Martha (1899) – Julia Lopes de Almeida
“Stone Path” (1937) – Rachel de Queiroz
“The Passion According to GH (1964) – Clarice Lispector
“Geography” (1967) – Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
“Balada de Amor ao Vento” (1990) – Paulina Chiziane
“Song for Lullaby Menino Grande” (2018) – Conceição Evaristo
“The Vision of Plants” (2019) – Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida

Fuvest 2028
“Advice to My Daughter” (1842) – Nísia Floresta
“Nebulas” (1872) – Narcisa Amália
“Memories of Martha” (1899) – Julia Lopes de Almeida
“João Miguel” (1932) – Rachel de Queiroz
“The Passion According to GH” (1964) – Clarice Lispector
“Geography” (1967) – Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
“Balada de Amor ao Vento” (1990) – Paulina Chiziane
“Song for Lullaby Menino Grande” (2018) – Conceição Evaristo
“The Vision of Plants” (2019) – Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida

Fuvest 2029
“Advice to My Daughter” (1842) – Nísia Floresta
“Nebulas” (1872) – Narcisa Amália
“Dom Casmurro” (1899) – Machado de Assis
“João Miguel” (1932) – Rachel de Queiroz
“We Killed the Wicked Dog!” (1964) – Luís Bernardo Honwana
“Geography” (1967) – Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
“Incident in Antares” (1970) – Érico Veríssimo
“Song for Lullaby Menino Grande” (2018) – Conceição Evaristo
“The vision of Plants” (2019) – Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida

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