On public and private uses: the pseudonym as a negotiation strategy in Sylvia Plath and Adília Lopes

Abstract

This article examines the intertextual relationship between Sylvia Plath and Adília Lopes, focusing on the novel The Bell Jar and the strategy of the pseudonym common to both authors. It analyzes how Plath's Victoria Lucas and Adília Lopes function as tools to construct an authorial persona, to some degree distinct from their civil identity, allowing them to negotiate the gender expectations associated with the female signature. Through this

<levice, the authors explore taboo themes such as mental health and sexuality, establishing a productive distance between life and work. The study demonstrates how the pseudonym operates as a mechanism of resistance against reductive biographistic readings, affirming the autonomy ofliterary creation in the face of social and criticai constraints.