Sexual abuse, narcissistic splitting of the self and female prostitution in Lucíola, a book by José de Alencar

Abstract

The author discusses the novel Lucíola, by José de Alencar, highlighting its potential to be instructive reading into a psychoanalytic perspective, notably by clarifying the conditions of genesis and structural defensive devices concerning to the transgressive modalities, here the female prostitution in adulthood, as a product of a trauma in childhood or adolescence where sexual violence plays a major role.