Cultura impressa e educação da mulher: lições de política e moral no periódico mineiroo mentor das brasileiras (1829-1832)

Abstract

The goal of this research is the analysis of newspapers as educational instruments. It investigates the production, circulation, and reception of the newspaper O Mentor das Brasileiras (The Brazilian Women Mentor), printed in São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 1829 and 1832. Produced by a segment of moderate liberal politicians from Minas Gerais, The Mentor claimed to supplement Brazilian womens deficient education stating that as wives and mothers, women represented the most influential part of the society. It was a vehicle for the diffusion of liberal principles and an instrument to educate readers so that they would become patriotic and virtuous citizens. These were the main parameters from which diverse texts, proceeding from books, other newspapers and letters were selected, adapted, and inserted in this weekly publication. This practice of appropriation reveals the careful procedure of text adaptation for the readers, and it resulted in a hybrid text. It also indicates that the production of this newspaper resulted in new texts and new meanings for them, as well as the creation of new readers, new forms of reading, and new uses for the texts. The Mentor also established an interesting discussion pertaining school education, an institution that was still incipient at the beginning of XIX century. Through it, the subject of public instruction and some school activities gained wide circulation, and this contributed to legitimate school as an educative instance and The Mentor as a promoter of female education. This study intends, therefore, to contribute to a better understanding of the educational proposals directed toward women in the first decades of XIX century.