Keywords: Iberian literature and culture; Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa South American literature and culture Voices of European women

More than ever, literary studies must be intertwined with social forces and other arts. This GP aims to explore the importance of interculturality in a space where the role of communities considered marginal or with a decentralized voice and excluded from the circuits of power is privileged. By focusing on Iberian, Portuguese-speaking African and South American (Portuguese and Spanish) literatures and cultures, we aim to understand which vectors best define these cultures. The attention given to mutual interconnection and to the female experiences that stand out (especially in the 19th to 21st centuries) creates a research focus that should be predominant in the various projects that are being outlined. The importance of women and their voices will be a key factor in the analysis.

Closely linked to this issue is the search for identity in these communities, where female identity is undoubtedly a determining aspect. And in this search we can easily reach the Middle Ages and the beginnings of literature. The interrelationship between the medieval female universe and the different environments in which these female communities moved is characterized by similarities and differences, by tangents and secants. Without neglecting other vectors of interconnection and dialogue between the Lusophone and Spanish-speaking communities, the GI intends to organize a conference open to academics (Iberian, African and South American), where mutual relations can be discussed, and where dialogues that are sometimes hidden, ignored or even denied can emerge. Also on the horizon is the creation of a database on the presence of women in the medieval texts studied and in recent texts (19th-21st centuries) in Portuguese, Castilian, Galician and Catalan. By studying social, economic, religious and cultural contexts, the aim is to build bridges with the other CITCEM research groups.