The suicide in the medicine and in the literature of Rio de Janeiro (1835-1895)

Author(s)

Davi Machado da Rocha

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Franca. 2017-01-17.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais. Franca
• Defense date: 2016-12-05
• Advisor: Jean Marcel Carvalho França

Abstract

From the mid of 1830s and throughout the nineteenth century, the problem of voluntary death filled many pages of newspapers and periodicals circulated in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Recurring suicides of slaves, women, traders and other characters from the Rio de Janeiro society gave rise to varied reflections among Brazilian intellectuals who have tried to explain and combat the causes of this phenomenon which contradicted the will of God and human nature. Such reflections will be the subject of study of this research, which seeks to examine the ways of description of the voluntary death phenomenon, from 1835 to 1895, from two speeches: the medicine and literature. In this period, with the creation of the Faculty of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro (1832) and the development of concerned literature with moral education and training of the reading public, there is a regular production of medical theses, news, chronicles and novels they denounced the recurrence of suicides and attempted to demarcate the behaviors and social determinations that were focused on this practice, such as madness, gambling, financial breakdowns, the unruly passions, unbelief among other expressions of "vices" that became "corrupt" society with the advent of modern urban life. Thus, the hypothesis that guides this study is that the medicine and the literature to the extent that they shared interest to build Brazil in modern, urban and civilized terms described voluntary death as a moral issue that should be fought within the passions and customs through education. Thus, these speeches acquired a prescriptive character of Rio de Janeiro social life, bringing up the values and meanings constructed by the company to guide the lives of its members. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/01094-4 - The voluntary death in Medicine and Literature of Rio de Janeiro (1835-1895)
• Grantee: Davi Machado da Rocha
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master