RBHE in times of celebrations, perplexities, and setbacks

Abstract

The year in which the Bicentennial of Brazil's Independence is celebrated can be taken as an important indicator for thinking about numerous initiatives aimed at building the nation. One of them refers precisely to the world of printed matter, which also helps to distance us from historiography and to problematize it, therefore reducing the complex process of Brazil's emancipation to a scene, a man, a date, and an imperative statement. As it is known, based on the change and need of the Portuguese Court to communicate with its subjects, which were diverse and unequally distributed in the vast territory of Brazil, D. João VI authorized the creation of the Impressão Régia.

The first Brazilian typography published some books and official orders until, on September 10, 1808, it started with the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, considered the first serial printed publication in Brazil. Afterwards, other typographies were installed in other regions and, gradually, Brazil was entering what Anderson (2008) called "typographic capitalism".

From then on, it is possible to effectively observe the publication proliferation of pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, reports, yearbooks, and books. This print production varied so much in terms of content, editorial design, formats, and recipients. It is also possible to observe that the ones responsible for it, that is, the editors, also had (and still have) the most diverse affiliations. This reinforces the perception of the strategic nature of the printed word and the disputes in the field of social communication, the development of the public opinion (specialized or not), through the action of selecting, prioritizing, and disseminating some social events, in well-determined ways, to the extent of being considered the “fourth estate”, thus confirming the maxim of the inexistence of power without press and the inexistence of press without power.