Towards a definition of the Portuguese chick lit: analysis of the critical-literary reception and readers' interpretations of contemporary Portuguese women's narrative

Abstract

The aim of this article is to offer a definition of the relatively recent literary genre that is exemplified by the writing of authors such as Margarida Rebelo Pinto, Fátima Lopes and Rita Ferro. This is literature whose possible Anglo-Saxon 'peer' we find in chick lit - fiction written generally by women and for women that focuses on their everyday lives. The aim is to arrive at this definition through an analysis of the media and academic discourse surrounding the most popular works and through surveys with male and female readers. In this way, we highlight the interplay that takes place between literary criticism, which takes place publicly (magazines, TV programmes, blogs), and reading, which takes place in a private and individual context. We also consider how criticism determines reading and to what extent reading and interpretation are isolated

and personal acts. The research that led to this article led us to more general literary considerations, such as the question of who has the power to say what literature is? and who has the privilege of designating the value of a literary work?