Mariana Coelho and the quilt-scalpel in O Paraná Mental (1908)

Abstract

This text aims at the interpretation of a classification of intellectuals from the state of Paraná, as proposed by the writer Mariana Coelho, in her work O Paraná Mental (1908). The analysis is based on that author’s classification, mainly in the composition of a list of “poets, prose writers and journalists” (literature world), “comedy writers and playwrights” (theater universe), and “musicians and painters” (fine arts space), and intellectual history. We observed that the inclusion and exclusion of individuals from the pantheon of writers and artists in the state of Paraná is a social operation, that is, one that constitutes the “practical world” shared by personalities who occupied the main cultural spaces of the late 19th century and early 20th century – which reveals intentions and interests around the names mentioned and the pursuit of notoriety and distinction –, as well as more or less “objective” criteria used by Mariana Coelho to classify and qualify what she called “illustrious” (“aspiring-artist” and “full-artist”) responsible for the “development of arts in Paraná” and to establish a social critique and an aesthetic critique.