Outsiders' Voices: The Writings of Spanish Women in the Americas (16th and 17th centuries)

The chronicles of the Indies contain only very limited references to the actions and experiences of women from the peninsula. Tracing the cartography of the written production of the Indies during the process of conquest and colonization, it is in the less official areas and in the archives on the periphery where we find the newest expressions, the most personal and authentic writings, the ones that can help us break away from the cliches that have shaped the view of the colonial world. Focusing on this production from outside the mainstream, and exploring in particular the issue of confinement, seclusion and expatriation of peninsular women in the Americas, this article examines the private letters and testimonies of these emigrants to the Indies. These are stories of supplication that shed new light on life in the American colonies and on the conquest in general.