O soldado e a pena: um estudo sobre as repercussões da Guerra da Cisplatina na imprensa fluminense (1825-1828)

Abstract

This work aims to analyse, through Rio de Janeiro’s press, the public discussions about the Cisplatine War, armed hostility between Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata that represents the apex of disputes for the Cisplatine Province. As historical sources, we analysed newspapers circulating in the Imperal Court between 1825 and 1828, temporal cut in which the war took place. By means of the investigation of the papers called Triumpho da Legitimidade Contra Facção de Anarquistas, Atalaia da Liberdade, O Verdadeiro Liberal, Astréa e A Aurora Fluminense, we tried to evidence the discursive bases on which the public writers grounded their opinions, criticism and forecasts concerning the conflict in Brazil’s south border. In this regard, we made use of the Cambridge School, represented by Quentin Skinner and John Pocock. For that matter, the interconnections between contextual changes and the political languages forged by the writers was central aspects of the analysis, for they unveiled the multiple prospects about the Cisplatine War in the public debates in Rio de Janeiro. As theoretical background, we applied the concepts of public opinion and political culture, through which we glimpsed the political meanings that D. Pedro I’s military enterprise assumed in the Brazilian First Reign.