“Bailamos en Desamor”
(“We Dance in a Lack of Love”)
I began this study with the intention of exploring the question, how do female Bolivian writers interact with social justice themes through their writing, especially related to issues that women confront living in a patriarcal society? By the end of my study, however, I realized that in interviewing a literary community as diverse as that of female writers in Bolivia, to focus specifically on themes of social justice was difficult. Therefore, instead of only emphasizing the theme of social justice in my interviews, I tried to leave room so that the writers could speak about the concerns, ideas and beliefs that they found to be the most pertinent to their writing today. My study is, ultimately, more an exploration of the most relevant current topics for female writers in Bolivia, including the impact of globalization in their writing, the influence of female identity in their written works and the role of literature in modern social change efforts. I try to give voice to the variety of perspectives of female Bolivian writers, and I also include information obtained from interviews with figures who are related to the Bolivian literary community, and/or are involved in activism surrounding women’s rights in Bolivia, in order to encounter opinions beyond the boundaries of the female literary community in Bolivia. More than provide “results” of my study, I would like to recognize this study as a path to enter into discourse with this community little-known in Bolivia, and even lesser known outside of the country. The information I obtained from these authors represents a diversity of opinions, hopes, worries and beliefs that reach towards new questions and thoughts about what it is like, and what it means, to be a female author in Bolivia today. My expectation is that this study will not give definitive facts about this literary community, but rather influence others to think about the ideas that these writers present, and perhaps search for and read their written works with a new appreciation for their manipulation of the written word.
