Devoção e negação: a festa de São Jorge no Rio de Janeiro e a “Belle Epoque” brasileira (1890 1920)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to critically examine, through the lens of postcolonial theory, the sociocultural context in which the Feast of Saint George was constituted, held annually on April 23rd in the capital of the nascent Brazilian Republic Rio de Janeiro during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The central concern lies in the tensions between Brazilian popular festivities and the dominant discourses of the time, which framed social and cultural life within scientific and public health paradigms, with Europe as the exclusive locus of enunciation. The theoretical framework draws upon postcolonial cultural studies, focusing on the formation of Brazilian society through popular celebrations, identity formation processes, cultural hybridity, and migratory flows. This study interrogates how and why the festival reinvents itself over time, who its main actors are, and what strategies they employ to remain active agents of cultural expression. Accordingly, we pose the following questions: How are these processes established and consolidated? How does the festival undergo transformations to the extent that it becomes, in contemporary times, an official municipal and state holiday in Rio de Janeiro? To address these inquiries, this research mobilizes both theoretical-methodological approaches and primary sources, including widely circulated newspapers from the period, travelers’ accounts, and other documentary materials related to the celebration of the warrior saint. Findings suggest that, for a certain period, the denial of the festival functioned as a marker of civility and citizenship. The discussion focuses on the trajectory of the Saint George festivities, from the decline of the Empire to the emergence and consolidation of the Republic, revealing how the celebration was transformed into a compulsory and legitimizing event for the emperor, the saint, and other symbolic actors. The pluralistic environment and the socio-urban transformations that marked the period known as the Belle Époque carioca constitute the backdrop for ideological disputes with significant repercussions for the subalternized structures of that era.