O povo no imaginário dos letrados: as representações dos setores populares nas páginas da revista O Malho (1904-1908)

Abstract

This dissertation intends to study the representations of people who lived in Rio de Janeiro, federal district at the time, through the analysis of cartoons printed in the “O Malho” magazine, during the early years of the twentieth century, more specifically, between the 1904-1908 period. Throughout this research, we analyzed how brazilians coming from different economic and social strata were represented by press cartoonists, as well as examined how those humorous chronicles portrayed society´s participation during the Belle Époque. Therefore, we looked into the images that show the lives of different social groups who inhabited the city during its modernization, their reactions to the urbanization process, hygiene regulation, mandatory vaccination politic and the imobiliary crisis. We aim to study the reactions of these social actors to the measures took by city governments, such as Passos and Souza Aguiar, and national leaders, like Rodrigues Alves and Afonso Pena. The examination of these cartoons allowed us to delve into the city´s sociocultural environment and interpret the iconography of political humor in Rio de Janeiro during Brazil´s First Republic, regarding popular behavior.