The representation of domestic servants in chilean literature, 1870-1920

Abstract

This article analyzes the representation of domestic servants in Chilean literature between 1870 and 1920, in the context of the consolidation and subsequent crisis in the way of life and values of the ruling elite, as well as the phenomenon of the Social Question, which strained relations between employees and employers. Through the examination of novels, plays and autobiographical works, it is argued that the literature of the period had a place in the debate about the moral order, as the representation of domestic servants reflected either an ideal representation, linked to the values that the elite wanted to instill in society, or a “deviant” one. In this sense, literature represents a critique that reveals the moral limits and contradictions within the elite.