Colonial spirituality and writing's control in Ursula Suárez's Relación Autobiográfica (1650-1730)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the discursive transgressions of the genre of the spiritual autobiography presented in Relación autobiográfica by the 17h century Chilean nun Ursula Suárez. In this analysis, I seek to establish the connection between textual transgressions and the nun 's rejection of the control imposed upon her writings by her confessor and other male authorities of the Catholic Church. I consider the nun's understanding of the spiritual vows of religious. women in Colonial Spanish America as well as her questioning of the religious authority which determined the nature of the relationship between nuns and their confessors. This study distinguishes different forms of discursive sanctions in Spiritual writing and the alternative paths that individuals like Ursula Suárez, who were subject to the control of Church authorities, explored and communicated.