Mercedes Cabello

Mercedes Cabello Llosa de Carbonera was a Peruvian writer. Influenced by positivism and naturalism, she was one of the main initiators of literary realism in Peruvian novels. She wrote six novels of social content and critical importance, the most successful being Blanca Sol (1888), Las consecuencias (1890) and El conspirador (1892). She also wrote numerous articles and essays published in Peruvian newspapers on literary and social topics. She especially advocated the emancipation of women, and was one of the first Peruvian feminists. She was a contemporary of Manuel González Prada, who, like Cabello, was a sui generis positivist; and an attendee of Juana Manuela Gorriti's tertulias, which provided her an opportunity to meet other female writers and discuss literature and feminist ideologies. Her literary works Sacrificio y recompensa, Blanca Sol, Las consequencias and El conspirador contain a recurrent theme of women portrayed as "helpless, suffering creatures or as fallen heroines." This is another one of the most prominent themes in her writings. Another common topic is her criticism of the Peruvian bourgeoisie, Lima's social elites, between 1860 and 1880.