A Reluctant Nun; provocateur and feminist Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

01-10-2020 • 26 mins

She Speaks Volumes, the primer for over 500 years of feminist history, and philosophy is produced by Feral Culture Lab - feralculturelab.com

Created by Daniella Sorrentino - dsorrentino.com

Excerpts in this episode are from Poems, Protest and a Dream, published in 1997 by Penguin Random House. Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden.

Sor Juana is voiced by Paola Poucel

Music: Madre la de los primores - written and composed by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Performed by the L.A. Camerata, directed by Marylin Winkle

You can watch a YouTube video of the performance here.

‘ Like in much of Europe Sor Juana’s career options would have been limited to wife, whore, or nun.’

In this episode we are listening to excerpts from a letter “Response to the Most Illustrious Poet Sor Fillotea’ written by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th century Mexican poet, philosopher, playwright, composer, nun and feminist. Sor Juana was born just outside of Mexico City in 1648. A brilliant and opinionated nun, one who has powerful political allies was seen as an existential threat by the patriarchal Church. Sor Juana is particularly aware that being a woman is no small part of the repercussions from her Athenagoric letter. Throughout her letter she asserts that the inherent misogyny within the church is hypocritical, and misguided.

“considering the total antipathy I had toward matrimony, the convent was the least disproportionate and ( most honourable decision I could make” Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz - from Response to the Most Illustrious Poet Sor Fillotea