Mãe há só muitas: a figura materna nos contos de Lygia Fagundes Telles

Abstract

The paper analyses the representation of the mother figure in thirteen short stories by Lygia Fagundes Telles, published between 1949 and 2007. Proving her status as a major figure in contemporary Brazilian literature, Lygia poses the question from multiple perspectives, also using a wide diversity of styles and tones. In some of the narratives, more or less common and reasonably peaceful situations are enacted, but there are others that could illustrate a psychiatry or psychoanalysis manual. The set, by the way, provides material that could serve as a basis for a history of contemporary women.