Abstract

BIENKO DE PERALTA, Doris. Voices from the cloisters: autobiographies of two nuns from 17^th - century New Spain. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2014, vol.35, n.139, pp.157-194. ISSN 2448-7554.

This article analyzes the principle characteristics, the underlying discursive models, the context, and the role of confessors, as these are reflected in the autobiographical writings of two nuns in New Spain in the first half of the 17^th century. The starting point consists of manuscripts by the Hieronymite María Magdalena (1575-1636) and the Carmelite Francisca de la Natividad (?-1658). These writings not only present reflections on social tensions inside the convent and beyond its walls, but are also directly related to the diffusion of printed texts of an autobiographical character that include mentions of the diverse devotional readings suggested by the writers' confessors, while illustrating how those nuns assimilated the expectations that their spiritual fathers held for them.

Keywords : autobiographical texts; spiritual direction; devotional readings; monasticism.