Aprimorando a raça brasileira : uma análise dos discursos da psiquiatria no início do século XX no Brasil

Abstract

This work has the objective of analyzing the notion of biological causation, attached to mental illness, through eugenics and hygienics discourses during the decades of the 20 s and 30 s in Brazil. To achieve such aim, has been selected The Brazilian Archives of Mental Hygiene magazine. This periodical has been chosen because it was produced by the Brazilian League of Mental Hygiene, a very representative institution on eugenics and hygienics discourses from the selected period, and because it was published in Rio de Janeiro, city elected for research. The magazine was published from 1925 to 1947 and the period chosen for its analysis goes from 1925 to 1935. On this way, the theory of Michel Foucault has been used as reference, especially concerning the debates around the biopower. We believe that a historical analysis of the psychiatrics discourses from this period in Brazil can contribute with the comprehension of some peculiarities founded on contemporary psychiatrics discourses, in order to enable a revision of established conceptions of treatment, instigating the retrace and remake of health and illness experiences and, consequently, of therapeutic propositions.