Por uma Juiz de Fora moderna: educação e saúde no jornal O Pharol (1889 – 1911)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the presence and diffusion of medical-hygienist discourse in Juiz de Fora society in the early years of the Republic, investigating the role attributed to school education in the construction of a modern Juiz de Fora. The thesis defended in this research is that, between the end of nineteenth and the first years of twentieth century, the formal education assumed an important role in the development project of a modern city and that, in this process, medical hygienist discourse was fundamental proposing a school model capable of contributing with this project. To capture the diffusion of this discourse, the newspaper O Pharol is used as main source of analysis for being considered the most important periodic in use in the city at the time, although another historical sources are used over this research. The questioning that conduct this work are: 1) In the modernization process of Juiz de Fora city, what is the role attributed to education by medical-hygienist discourse that circulated in town in the period from 1889 to 1911? 2) What school institution model was being presented to Juiz de Fora society in the center of medical-hygienist proposal between the years of 1889 and 1911? As a beacon of this research, is adopted the theoretical-methodological framework of Cultural History, that integrates the New History debates. The study concludes that the medical-hygienist discourse widespread by Juiz de Fora city through the newspaper O Pharol bet on school education as a transformation mean of the society in order to make this society healthier and more productive, fitting the perspective of progress and modernity of the time. Based on that expectation, education models were built that conveyed the principles of health and productivity. To this end, rules were disseminated about school spaces, school times, school knowledge and school physical education in order to adapt them to these principles and, thus, can propagate them to the whole community.