Festive manifestations: reading and representation

Abstract

This article investigates in the novels A Moreninha and Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias how the authors Joaquim de Macedo and Manoel de Almeida represented the social behavior of their characters when they are involved in festive manifestations. The two novelists feature characters who have different social behavior at a festive space. The first describes the social relationships at a baptism party, while the second at a poetry “Sarau”. Following the ways proposed by Roger Chartier, I seek for the understanding of the party, not as picturesque or anecdotic territory, but as a place which reveals the conflicts, tensions and representations that are part of a society.