Eça de Queirós’s ‘The Idiosyncrasies of a Young Blonde Woman’: Double plots in world literature | Intellect Skip to content
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Short Fiction as World Literature
  • ISSN: 2043-0701
  • E-ISSN: 2043-071X

Abstract

This short story, written by Eça de Queirós in the 1870s, ostensibly presents a story about a beautiful young blonde woman who is, to everybody’s surprise, a skilful kleptomaniac. On the surface, the story is therefore about a psychological and individual situation. However, if we read on a deeper level, we find that it is also about a collective kleptomania, related to the slave-trade in the Atlantic, set in the 1830s. It is therefore a short story that doubles its plots between individual and collective, as well as psychological and social.

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/content/journals/10.1386/fict_00086_7
2024-02-14
2024-04-29
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References

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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/fict_00086_7
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  • Article Type: Other
Keyword(s): allegorical reading; double plots; enslaved people; Eça de Queirós; kleptomania; nineteenth century; Portuguese short story; world literature

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