Beauty and ugliness in the city of Fortaleza in the first decades of the twentieth century (1900-1960)

• Grant number: 13/15013-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Principal Investigator: Denise Bernuzzi de Sant'Anna
• Grantee: Luciana Andrade de Almeida
• Supervisor: Claudine Haroche
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Sociais. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), France
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/01647-5 - Beauty and ugliness in the city of Fortaleza in the first decades of the twentieth century, BP.DR

Abstract

In the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Fortaleza showed its ambition in being developed and becoming similar to major cities like Rio de Janeiro and even Paris, France. Businesses, services and people manifested a desire to be modern, in a cultural, social and sensible movement which also shaped appearances and influenced an increasingly more rigorous observation of the body. In newspapers, magazines and in literature, the relevance acquired by themes of embellishment and ugliness indicated a gathering of concerns and feelings until then unknown, as well as new liberties and constraints. The body gradually becomes the center of problems - not only medical and aesthetic, but also related to personality and the social power each person possessed. This current proposal of internship abroad in the city of Paris aims to meet one of the central themes of the thesis: to obtain elements for the comprehension of the cultural and historical production of the concept of beauty and ugliness, having as a starting point the notion that Fortaleza was inserted in a circuit of practices and values linked to bodily esthetics. Analyzing sources of research available in the libraries of Paris, it will be possible to gather in which measure Fortaleza acquired particularities and general characteristics in the analyzed period, as well as investigating in which way the city appropriated the imagery references and even the vocabulary of the Parisian publications in the beginning of the 20th century, with an emphasis in the Belle Époque period, as already observed in the sources in Ceará. The internship, to be held at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) between the 1st of November 2013 and the 31st of July 2014, will also include guidance with Professor Claudine Haroche and attendance of seminars directly related to the research theme. (AU)