The development of Brazilian protestant visual culture: the case of the arrival and use of us images used in Brazilian Sunday schools between 1890 and 1945

• Grant number: 18/12666-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2018
• End date: August 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Theology - History of Theology
• Principal Investigator: Helmut Renders
• Grantee: Kalindy Hyandra Fiorio
• Host Institution: Diretoria de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa. Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (UMESP). Instituto Metodista de Ensino Superior (IMS). São Bernardo do Campo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The research proposed here is a branch of the project "Evangelical visual culture: the emergence" of Helmut Renders (FAPESP: Process 2015.13737-7 Regular Project / Project 64/2015 CONSUN / Umesp) and focuses on special expressions of Protestant visual culture produced by the American promoter agencies of the Sunday schools between 1890 and 1945. The project includes: (a) the collection of data, that is, the collection of images distributed in Sunday schools and today still found in collections, archives and libraries of religious institutions (with other words, single images which are not illustrations of books or in jornals); (b) the analysis of objects concerning their origin, circulation, and use; (c) interpretation of their styles, compositions, contents, themes, motives, etc. The general objective of this research is to exemplify an aspect of the existence of an evangelical visual culture already in the arrival of Protestantism and its Mission in Brazil; the specific objectives are (a) to know the characteristics of this material considering its probable contribution to the development of a specific Protestant religious imaginary; (b) to make specific studies on some of these objects using the method of Erwin Panofsky (pre-iconographic, iconographic and iconological reading), in the desire to interpret them as references of a specific epoch and form of religion. This proposal is justified by the lack of specialized and more detailed studies on the existence of an evangelical visual culture, in this case, its initial, Protestant phase. (AU)