{"id":455184,"date":"2022-10-17T16:13:15","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T19:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=455184"},"modified":"2022-11-28T11:19:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T14:19:37","slug":"paper-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/paper-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Paper battle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Oliveira Lima Library \/ The Catholic University of America<\/span>Examples of the pamphlets that circulated in Brazil and Portugal in the early nineteenth century are shown on these and the following pages.Oliveira Lima Library \/ The Catholic University of America<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Twenty-one political pamphlets that were distributed in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Maranh\u00e3o, Pernambuco, Bahia, and Gr\u00e3o-Par\u00e1 are gathered in the book Vozes do Brasil: A linguagem pol\u00edtica na Independ\u00eancia (1820\u20131824) <\/em>(Voices of Brazil: The political language in Independence, 1820\u20131824). Released by the Federal Senate at the end of last year, the book was put together by Helo\u00edsa Maria Murgel Starling and Marcela Telles Elian de Lima, two historians from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). A digital version can be accessed for free on the Senate\u2019s online bookstore. The pamphlets are part of a collection of 135 leaflets related to the Independence of Brazil that were stored in the private library of Pernambuco diplomat and historian Manuel de Oliveira Lima (1867\u20131928).<\/p>\n

In 1916, Oliveira Lima donated his entire collection of about 40,000 books, documents, maps, and works of art to the Catholic University of America, located in Washington, DC, USA, where it has remained ever since (see<\/em> Pesquisa FAPESP issue<\/em> n\u00ba 266<\/em><\/a>). \u201cOliveira Lima used to buy pamphlets from auction houses and second-hand bookstores in Europe and Brazil. They were not transcribed in the book Voices of Brazil<\/em>, instead reproduced in full so that readers can see what the printed material really looked like,\u201d explains Brazilian sociologist and political scientist Nathalia Henrich, director of the Oliveira Lima Library and author of the book O antiamericano que n\u00e3o foi:<\/em> Os Estados Unidos na obra de Oliveira Lima<\/em> (The anti-American that wasn’t: The United States in the work of Oliveira Lima; EdiPUCRS, 2021), which was based on her doctoral thesis at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC).<\/p>\n

The book joins publications such as Guerra liter\u00e1ria: Panfletos pol\u00edticos da Independ\u00eancia \u2013 1820-1823 <\/em>(Literary war: Political pamphlets of the Independence \u2013 1820\u20131823), organized by historians Jos\u00e9 Murilo de Carvalho, Lucia Maria Bastos Pereira das Neves, and Marcello Basile (Editora da UFMG, 2014). The four-volume compendium, which is now out of print, has just been digitized and is freely available on the Brazilian National Library website. It contains 362 leaflets that were circulated primarily in Rio de Janeiro, but also in the provinces of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Maranh\u00e3o, as well as in Portugal. \u201cThese pamphlets, which were handwritten or printed, addressed the political events of the time. They were ephemeral, with no specific frequency, and they used virulent and passionate language, starting with the striking headings,\u201d explains Bastos, from the Department of History at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ).<\/p>\n

About 80% of the documents in the collection came from the National Library, in Rio de Janeiro, collected over almost two decades of research by the organizers. \u201cWe selected pamphlets that were not written by the official authorities. These documents, most of which were written anonymously, are fundamental to understanding the independence process in Brazil because they represent sentiments outside the official line, which sometimes masks reality,\u201d says Bastos. According to the specialist, the pamphlets came in various different formats: they can comprise a single page or compilations of up to 50 pages. \u201cThey were cheaper and more manageable than newspapers, and reached a wide audience,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

According to Cec\u00edlia Helena de Salles Oliveira, a historian from the Paulista Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (MP-USP), the approach was possible in Brazil, despite most of the population being illiterate at the time, thanks to shared readings. \u201cNot just political pamphlets but also newspapers were read aloud in popular areas, such as taverns, public squares, and fountains,\u201d says the specialist, who has studied the subject since the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The use of this form of communication was not exactly a surprise in the Luso-Brazilian political landscape, writes Starling in Voices of Brazil<\/em>. \u201cAt the time of Portuguese America, pamphlets quickly circulated during many of the revolts that broke out with impressive regularity in the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century. […] Defamatory, pornographic, or satirical pamphlets, were also distributed as acts of provocation through the colonial territory. The Portuguese Inquisition began documenting them between 1587 and 1591. In 1789, the year of the Inconfid\u00eancia Mineira<\/em> separatist movement, the political situation worsened and inflammatory manuscripts\u2014allegedly written by quilombolas [escaped slaves and their descendants]\u2014began circulating in the town of Mariana, taking the population and authorities by surprise: ‘Everyone belonging to the empire must die. Only a few old people and clergymen will remain,’ they threatened,\u201d says the researcher. The pamphlet Cartas chilenas <\/em>(Chilean letters) was distributed in the same era, attributed to the poet Tom\u00e1s Ant\u00f4nio Gonzaga (1744\u20131810) and possibly written between 1786 and 1789 in collaboration with poet Cl\u00e1udio Manuel da Costa (1729\u20131789). Both were prominent figures in the Inconfid\u00eancia Mineira<\/em> movement (1789\u20131792).<\/p>\n

Giving a voice to different perspectives
\n<\/strong>The circulation of political pamphlets and newspapers reached its heyday in the early 1820s in both Brazil and Portugal. According to historian Marcelo Cheche Galves of the State University of Maranh\u00e3o (UEMA), this was due to the Liberal Revolution of 1820, which began in the city of Porto. \u201cIn response to the demands of the movement, the first constitution of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves was drafted the following year. The document established the end of prior restraint, ushering in the freedom of the press,\u201d says the researcher and author of the book Ao p\u00fablico sincero e imparcial: Imprensa e Independ\u00eancia na prov\u00edncia do Maranh\u00e3o (1821-1826) <\/em>(To the sincere and impartial public: The press and independence in the province of Maranh\u00e3o [1821\u20131826]), released in 2015 by Editora UEMA and Caf\u00e9&L\u00e1pis. \u201cIt is estimated that more than 80 periodicals and more than 500 political pamphlets were printed on both sides of the Atlantic between 1821 and 1823. The freedom to print created public opportunities for political representation, which gave voice to different perspectives, even if restricted to the world of the haves,\u201d continues Galves.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Oliveira Lima Library \/ The Catholic University of America<\/span>The publications, known for their long titles, reflected the political effervescence of the timeOliveira Lima Library \/ The Catholic University of America<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

It had been possible to produce printed material in Brazil since 1808, with the arrival of the Portuguese Court in Rio de Janeiro. \u201cBut between 1808 and 1821, pamphlets and periodicals were scrutinized by the Royal Press,\u201d says Oliveira. This was the case, for example, with Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro<\/em>, a newspaper that began circulating that year and closed in 1822. \u201cSupposedly printed by individuals, it was really the court’s newspaper and only published news that interested the Portuguese monarchical government,\u201d reports Brazilian political scientist and historian Isabel Lustosa from the Humanities Center at NOVA University Lisbon. Also in print at the time\u2014with the crown\u2019s permission\u2014were the newspapers O Patriota<\/em> (1813\u20131814) in Rio de Janeiro and A Idade d’Ouro no Brasil<\/em> in Bahia, which was founded in 1811 with the approval of the province\u2019s governor and Count of Arcos, Marcos de Noronha e Brito (1771\u20131828).<\/p>\n

The exception was Correio Braziliense<\/em>, also called Armaz\u00e9m Liter\u00e1rio<\/em>, a Portuguese-language publication intended for readers in Brazil that was started in England in 1808. \u201cIt was edited by Hip\u00f3lito da Costa [1774\u20131823], a Brazilian who studied at the University of Coimbra but was forced to flee Portugal as a result of his Masonic connections. He eventually settled in London in around 1806,\u201d says Lustosa, author of the book O jornalista que imaginou o Brasil \u2013 Tempo, vida e pensamento de Hip\u00f3lito da Costa (1774-1823) <\/em>(The journalist who imagined Brazil \u2013 The life, times, and thoughts of Hip\u00f3lito da Costa [1774\u20131823]), released in 2019 by Editora da Unicamp. \u201cThe newspaper, published monthly, took about three months to reach Brazil, depending on maritime conditions. Since it wasn\u2019t authorized by the crown, it was circulated in the provinces clandestinely.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the expert, Hip\u00f3lito da Costa was a supporter of so-called enlightened reform. \u201cAs a monarchist, he argued that institutions should be reformed, but without removing the sovereign power of the king. When he found out that the Portuguese Court was moving to Rio de Janeiro, he saw an opportunity to defend his idea of a Luso-Brazilian empire based in Brazil and created the newspaper that same year,\u201d explains Lustosa. \u201cIts articles criticized provincial governors and ministers of the court, but never Dom Jo\u00e3o VI (1767\u20131826). Many were actually criticisms that the Prince Regent himself, who would become king in 1816, would have liked to have made. There were moments of repression, with copies occasionally seized, but in general the court turned a blind eye to its illegal circulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, the newspaper obtained a secret subsidy from the crown in 1812, according to Lustosa. Until then it was maintained by subscriptions and the sponsorship of a group of Portuguese businessmen based in England with commercial interests in Brazil. With a print run of 500 copies, the periodical aimed to spread liberal ideas in the country, for example by demanding an end to the commercial monopoly and wider access to education. \u201cOne of the newspaper’s great merits was that it helped create a political culture among Brazil’s elites. Its articles caused many readers to begin questioning the political order in the country,\u201d explains Lustosa. Another of its major contributions, he says, was that it forged the idea of a nation, which did not exist in Brazil at the time. \u201cThrough a network of correspondents, the newspaper reported on events in several provinces, such as the opening of a post office in Cear\u00e1 or a library in Rio Grande do Sul,\u201d says the researcher.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Oliveira Lima Library \/ The Catholic University of America<\/span>Examples of the pamphlets that circulated in Brazil and Portugal in the early nineteenth century are shown on these and the following pagesOliveira Lima Library \/ The Catholic University of America<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

With the freedom of the press, typography spread throughout Brazil. \u201cWhen the crown was in charge, there were just two newspapers in Brazil: one based in Rio de Janeiro, the other in Bahia. But from 1821 onward, dozens of public and private presses were opened. Another three outlets emerged in Rio de Janeiro alone, as well as others in provinces such as Pernambuco, Maranh\u00e3o, and Gr\u00e3o-Par\u00e1,\u201d says Oliveira. \u201cThose who had money, including people involved in the slave trade, turned to this type of enterprise alongside other business interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his master\u2019s thesis \u201cOrigins of the press in Brazil: Prosopographic study of the editors of periodicals published between 1808 and 1831,\u201d funded by FAPESP, historian Lu\u00eds Ot\u00e1vio Vieira of USP\u2019s School of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Human Sciences analyzed 29 figures to outline the profile of newspaper editors and writers in the early nineteenth century. He used a method known as prosopography, which involves the systematization and collation of collective biographical data. Rio de Janeiro was home to the largest number of authors in the study (seven), but there were also plentiful examples in other provinces, such as Minas Gerais, S\u00e3o Paulo, Para\u00edba, and Goi\u00e1s. In Goi\u00e1s, the first press only arrived in 1830, used to print the newspaper Matutino<\/em> Meiapontense<\/em>, edited by Father Fleury (1793\u20131846).<\/p>\n

The study found that the editors and writers, all male, were generally from wealthy families. \u201cFourteen of them were the children of merchants or landowners,\u201d says Vieira. This was true of Joaquim Gon\u00e7alves Ledo (1781\u20131847) and Janu\u00e1rio da Cunha Barbosa (1780\u20131846), the pair in charge of the oppositionist newspaper Rev\u00e9rbero Constitucional Fluminense<\/em> that circulated between 1821 and 1822, whose parents amassed large fortunes in Rio de Janeiro. Similarly, Felipe Patroni (1798\u20131866), one of the editors of O Paraense<\/em> (1822), was a descendant of Pedro Manuel Parente, leader of the captaincy of Par\u00e1 and commander of the Order of S\u00e3o Bento de Avis. \u201cIn the early nineteenth century, the production of periodicals was not accessible to individuals from less prestigious social strata\u2014the common people,\u201d says Vieira. \u201cAt the same time, most of these periodical editors and writers had money, but they did not belong to the nobility with closest ties to the Portuguese Court and saw the press as a way of expanding their social and political power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strategy had its drawbacks. Ledo and Barbosa, for example, were exiled because of their stance against the government, vocalized by their newspaper. Clergyman and politician Friar Caneca (1779\u20131825), who ran the newspaper Thypis<\/em> Pernambuco<\/em> (1823\u20131824), was executed in 1825. \u201cIn 1824, he was one of the most active names in the Confederation of the Equator, which among other aims, sought greater autonomy for the province of Pernambuco,\u201d says Vieira. \u201cThere was a lot of arguing. The atmosphere was tense. Sometimes, heated discussions left the pages of the periodicals, with editors beaten up in the street, or worse,\u201d says Galves.<\/p>\n

Even before 1822, newspapers and pamphlets rarely addressed the possibility of Brazil becoming independent. \u201cThere was a lot of discussion about Brazil\u2019s autonomy in relation to Portugal. The public were polled on controversial issues such as whether Prince Regent Pedro [1798\u20131834] should return to Portugal or stay in Brazil,\u201d continues Galves. \u201cDiscussions over independence really heated up in 1822.\u201d And there was no consensus. \u201cIn general, newspapers in Rio de Janeiro argued that Dom Pedro should remain in Brazil, since the province had benefited greatly from the court\u2019s presence, drawing political power and public resources,\u201d explains Lustosa. According to Galves, the situation was different in the northern provinces, such as Maranh\u00e3o and Pernambuco. \u201cThe benefits of direct trade with England, an ally of Portugal, did not offset the costs of keeping the court in Rio de Janeiro. When freedom of the press was established, these divergences of interest exploded,\u201d says the researcher.<\/p>\n

According to UERJ\u2019s Bastos, there was an intense dialogue between newspapers and pamphlets. \u201cBoth were battlegrounds in the midst of the effervescence of the era. The letters sections of the newspapers, which may or may not actually have been sent by readers, echoed the virulent tone of the pamphlets, for example,\u201d says Bastos. \u201cNewspapers sometimes included separate leaflets. And it wasn\u2019t unusual for newspaper editors to also write pamphlets. Not to mention that booksellers in Brazil ran advertisements in newspapers informing people when leaflets were arriving from Portugal.\u201d According to Oliveira of the Paulista Museum, these documents invite us to revise some of our assumptions about Brazil\u2019s independence. \u201cThis printed material undermines the belief that the clashes were limited to alleged confrontations between the colony and the homeland. The pamphlets show that the process included freed slaves, small landowners, and women, who even wrote some political texts,\u201d he points out.<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong>
\nOrigins of the press in Brazil: Prosopographic study of the editors of periodicals published between 1808 and 1831 (n\u00ba 16\/12566-7<\/a>) Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Master’s (MSc) Fellowship; Supervisor<\/strong> Jo\u00e3o Paulo Garrido Pimenta (USP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Lu\u00eds Ot\u00e1vio Vieira; Investment<\/strong> R$50,077.83.<\/p>\n

Book<\/strong>
\nBASILE, M. et al. <\/em>Guerra liter\u00e1ria: Panfletos pol\u00edticos da Independ\u00eancia \u2013 1820-1823<\/strong>. Belo Horizonte: Editora da UFMG, 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newspapers and political pamphlets spread ideas, questions, and controversies surrounding Brazil\u2019s independence","protected":false},"author":689,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[220,241],"coauthors":[3453],"class_list":["post-455184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humanities","tag-communication","tag-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/689"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455184"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461652,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455184\/revisions\/461652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455184"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=455184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}