The salons of the Belle Époque in the society pieces of Marcel Proust and João do Rio

Author(s)

Vivian Yoshie Martins Morizono

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2016-09-19

Examining board members

Alexandre Bebiano de Almeida; Lucia Granja; Gilberto Pinheiro Passos

• Advisor: Alexandre Bebiano de Almeida

Abstract

The salons were considered important sociability places, where relationships and alliances were settled and marriages arranged since the 18th century. The social article, in its turn, lead the representation of this sociability to the newspapers pages, turning them into a space of recognition for the high society, describing the fashion, the public, the events and the very worldliness ambiance. Through the comparative analysis of the texts by Marcel Proust and João do Rio, the present research intends to investigate this genre of great preeminence in newspapers and magazines form the Belle Époque in France and Brazil. In order to do so, we provide, in the first place, a historical and cultural context of the high society, the salons and the press from both countries. Then, we will exploit the journalistic and literary traits in the social articles. How did the writers take advantage of the printed media protocols? How fictional traits were inserted in these sections of the newspapers and why? How did João do Rio write salon articles in a country whose population was predominantly illiterate? Those were a few of the questions raised. Through systematic readings and analysis of text and genre on the newspapers Le Figaro and Le Gaulois regarding Proust, and O Paiz in the case of João do Rio, we were able to infer that the society pieces were made from a tension between the attempt to represent the Carioca and Parisian high societies salons splendor and the need to supply the demands of the media. We can state that both authors understand the genre and make good use of its rules and literary traits. Marcel Proust and João do Rio, despite being inserted in such different contexts, describe the salons rituals whose liturgy is know and acknowledged by its readers and yet place them into this universe, at the same time real and imagined, between economy and politics columns. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/25492-3 - The salons of the Belle Époque in the society articles of Marcel Proust and João do Rio
• Grantee: Vivian Yoshie Martins Morizono
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master