Entre a crítica e admiração

A representação dos "paranaenses" nos textos de Thomas P. Bigg-Wither (1872-1876)

Abstract

This article analyzes the representations of the inhabitants of Paraná elaborated by the english engineer Thomas P. Bigg-Wither, based on his experience in the province between 1872 and 1875, published in the technical article The Valley of Tibagy, Brazil (1876) and, above all, in the travel narrative Novo caminho no Brasil meridional: a Província do Paraná – 1872/1875 (2001). Contextualized within the framework of nineteenth-century british imperialism and in dialogue with prestigious scientific institutions, these writings combined empirical descriptions, moral judgments, and hierarchical comparisons that produced ambivalent images of the nineteenth-century population of Paraná. Oscillating between critiques of indiscipline, laziness, and opportunism and praises of hospitality and rusticity, the author constructed a portrait marked by the notion of the “almost”: almost useful, almost civilized, almost reliable. Drawing on authors such as Edward Said, Roger Chartier, Mary Louise Pratt, Tzvetan Todorov, and Pierre Bourdieu, the article argues that such representations were not neutral but inscribed in eurocentric logics of distinction and symbolic domination. Circulating through networks of prestige, these images echoed ambivalently in the discourses of imperial and provincial elites, who reworked certain traits to promote an image of Paraná as disciplined, hardworking, and integrated into the national imagination.