HISTORICAL TRACES IN O MAMELUCO (1882)

SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY BAHIA

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to present historical, political and social questions about 19th century Bahian society in the novel-folhetim "O mameluco", published in 1882 in the periodical O Echo Sant'amarense, with a focus on the relationship between the Paraguayan War and the enslavement in force in the country at the time. In order to do this, an overview will be drawn up of the dissemination of this armed conflict in various parts of the country and how literature and journalism (the main means of publication for nineteenth-century writers) were involved in the construction of various discourses that had an impact on both abolitionist movements and those wishing to maintain the system in vogue. In this way, the research was based on searches in primary sources of newspapers collected from the Hemeroteca Digital, as well as bibliographical studies by authors such as Sampaio (2019), Cerqueira (2019), Júnior (2008), Kraay (2012), Silva (2016), among others. From this, it can be concluded how the political and literary discursive directions in print media had great power in building the popular imagination about the war, the discussions around abolitionism, in short, the very identity of the nation linked to these issues.