Chilean Women Translators in the 19th Century: Cultural Community and Women’s Strategy for Approaching Writing and the Publishing Industry

Abstract

This paper reviews the female translations carried out in Chile in the 19th century and the profiles of their translators from a cultural history perspective. The analysis understands them as participants of an elite cultural community that found in the work of translation, a strategy to participate in the intellectual and literary sphere, contributing to the dissemination of knowledge and the vindication of their rights. It analyzes their biographies and the topics they dealt with, revealing a process of expansion from moralizing approaches to diverse interests such as science and philosophy. The analysis leads to the conclusion that translation by women was a strategy of feminine affirmation and expansion of their traditional roles.