Women at war: visual culture, gender relations and citizenship in South America (1864-1884)

• Grant number: 24/05220-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Plastic Arts
• Principal Investigator: Ana Paula Cavalcanti Simioni
• Grantee: Nathan Yuri Gomes
• Host Institution: Museu de Arte Contemporânea (MAC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/07567-3 - Women at war: visual culture, gender relations and citizenship in South America (1864-1884), BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The project aims to carry out a survey of images (paintings, drawings, engravings, photographs, sculptures and public monuments) of women active in the war against Paraguay (considering the different positions they occupied in the imagery of the conflict: warriors, nurses, "vivandeiras", victims, enemies, etc.), seeking to understand not only the contexts of production, circulation and reception of those images, but also the relationship that they established with the dynamics of gender and power in the countries involved in the conflict (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay). This is not a visual history of the war, but a critical reflection on the role of visual culture in the process of redefining gender relations in South American societies at the end of the 19th century. The doctoral research offers the possibility of carrying out a systematic investigation in museums and archives in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, collecting visual sources representative of all the perspectives involved in the conflict, which will allow for a panoramic and, at the same time, in-depth look at the subject. The aim of the research is thus to contribute to understanding the phenomenon (the relationship between female imagery in war and the social dynamics of gender) from a comparative analysis of the various national contexts in which the conflict took place, while also considering the issue of transformations in the ways of producing and consuming images in South American societies at the end of the century.