De oficial da cavalaria a “subcidadão”: a devoção a São Jorge na modernidade carioca (1890-1920)

Abstract

This dissertation looks at the practice of devotion to St. George in the context of the city of Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the republican period (1890-1920). The text discusses this practice in the context of Rio's modernity, highlighting aspects of tradition and the modern, as well as the relationship between this devotion and the political, observing ruptures and permanences resulting from this process. In this sense, we analyzed the trajectory of devotion to the saint from its mythical origins, its interconnection with the history of Portugal and its contribution to Colonial Brazil, in order to follow the paths that this devotion followed in the modernity of the country's republican capital. As historical sources, we took the accounts of memorialists and the Commitment of the Brotherhood devoted to the saint in Rio de Janeiro to understand how this devotion “transferred” on the ships of the Portuguese conqueror-civilizer project was appropriated on Brazilian soil, and we made use of the journalistic chronicles of João do Rio, compiled in the book As religiões no Rio, as well as news from the periodicals of the time, Gazeta de Notícias and Correio da manhã, in order to identify the “place” that São Jorge came to occupy in the supposedly civilized city.