A Literatura Francesa nas Colunas do Jornal Publicador Maranhense

Abstract

This Course Completion Work analyzes the presence and circulation of French literature in the columns of the newspaper Publicador Maranhense throughout the 19th century, seeking to understand the role of this periodical in the formation of the reader of French novels in Maranhão during the 1800s. Inserted in a context of consolidation of the periodical press in Brazil, the newspaper acted simultaneously as an official organ of the provincial government and as an important cultural mediator, conveying political and administrative information and a significant amount of literary texts, especially through the feuilleton section. The research is based on a historical-literary approach, supported by the analysis of primary sources — editions of Publicador Maranhense available at the Brazilian Digital Newspaper Library — and dialogue with studies on the press, reading, and cultural circulation in the 19th century. The survey and cataloging of fiction prose narratives published between 1842 and 1885 showed the predominance of French novels, revealing an editorial choice aligned with the aesthetic and cultural models valued by the province's educated elites. Authors such as Paul Féval, Émile Richebourg, Victor Hugo, Jules Verne, and Alexandre Dumas Filho are prominent in the pages of the periodical, reinforcing France's centrality as a symbolic reference of modernity and cultural prestige. The analysis of editorial practices, such as the recurrent use of pseudonyms, the absence of defined authorship, and the serial publication of narratives often interrupted, allowed us to understand the material conditions of the provincial press and the specific modes of production and circulation of literary texts. In light of the reflections of Roger Chartier and Márcia Abreu, it was found that reading in Maranhão in the 1800s was a restricted social practice, associated with cultural distinction, in which the newspaper played a fundamental role as an intermediary between the reading public and foreign literature