In Spanish American literature, women's autobiography is rooted in the hagiographic tradition of vitae in which, at the request of a confessor, nuns wrote about their spiritual lives in an autobiographical form. Although not intended for publication, these narratives, or vidas, often circulated informally among other religious women, and were indeed often written with this in mind. Simultaneously written for their male confessor(s) and their female peers, such texts illustrate a fascinating exercise in double-voiced discourse.

Placing these works in historical context, Ibsen examines them in terms not only of their discursive strategies but also of how these strategies incorporate and question prevailing social, rhetorical, and cultural structures. On the margins and between the lines, the vida has the potential to effect a profound renegotiation of the terms and forms of self-representation.