J. M. Rugendas’ Contribution to an Iconography of the Animal Condition in Nineteenth-Century Brazilian Society

Authors

Abstract

The first four centuries of Brazilian history witnessed a wide range of interactions between humans and nonhuman animals that were an essential component in the formation of Brazilian society. Selected narratives from primary and secondary sources describe this complex network of interactions, in which humans and nonhumans were both partners and adversaries, within a context of wide-ranging cultural and environmental exploitation. The artwork of Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802–1858), a German artist who graduated from the Munich Academy, reveals some of the nuances of these hybrid scenarios, providing invaluable insights that may deepen our understanding of the period and of those who were given no voice and remained on the periphery of historical events.

Author Biography

Ana Lucia Camphora, Faculdade Hélio Alonso (FACHA), Brazil

Ana Lucia Camphora is a lecturer in the field of human-animal studies at Faculdade Hélio Alonso in Rio de Janeiro. She is the author of Animais e sociedade no Brasil dos séculos XVI a XIX [Animals and Society in Brazil from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century], a book presenting a historical background of the complex interactions, values, and uses that disclose nonhuman animals as having played a key role in the formation of Brazilian society. The first edition, printed in Portuguese, was supported by the Brazilian Academy of Veterinary Medicine, the National Council of Beef Cattle, the National Society of Agriculture, and the State of São Paulo Federation of Agribusiness.

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Published

2018-10-11

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Section

Autumn