The Rebel and the Icon: Juana de Ibarbourou and the Emblem of Juana de América Available to Purchase

Juana de Ibarbourou's first poetic collection, Las lenguas de diamante (Diamond Tongues) (1919) impressed the Uruguayan and wider Hispanic public with its rebellious voice. Nevertheless Ibarbourou's naming as “Juana de América” (Juana of America) and her subsequent glorification as a transnational symbol of Latin American womanhood have eclipsed what I contend is the subversive nature of her writing. This article demonstrates how Ibarbourou and her work historically have been read as virginal and passive, and argues that her poetry belies traditional feminine iconography through the brazen expression of a sexual desire that challenges discourses of docile femininity.