Swinish Multitude: The origin of a myth

• Grant number: 25/04054-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Political Theory
• Principal Investigator: Eunice Ostrensky
• Grantee: Lucas Barcos Rodrigues
• Supervisor: Georgios Varouxakis
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Queen Mary University of London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/13735-0 - Swinish Multitude: The origin of a myth., BP.DR

Abstract

This research explores the circulation and translation of the ideological ideasassociated with the "Swinish Multitude", through a documentary analysis of pamphlets,newspapers, cartoons, and magazines published between 1791 and 1834. The studyaims to understand the processes of circulation and autonomization related related tothe "Swinish Multitude" and the symbolic representation of the pig, adopting as abackdrop the debate on the influences of the French Revolution in England, with aparticular focus on the English Radical Societies. In his most famous work, EdmundBurke (1729-1797) refers to the French revolutionaries as a "swinish multitude". Inresponse, English authors supporting the revolution reclaimed the term, signingpamphlets as members of the swinish multitude to critique Burke. Alongside thepublication of these pamphlets, the phrase began to acquire symbolic resonance,developing new meanings that seemed to transcend its original context. However, itretained its associations with the lower and insurgent classes in England. Employing amethodology that seeks to enrich the field of political thought circulation and translationin Brazil, this study hypothesizes that these writings reveal the construction of arepresentation surrounding the "Swinish Multitude".