“ITALIANITY” AND ITS CULTURAL MEDIATOR IN THE RUBRIC OF THEATRICAL CRITICISM FROM THE NEWSPAPER L'IRIDE ITALIANA (1854-1855)

Abstract

This article analyzes the theatrical criticism rubric of the weekly newspaper L'Iride Italiana, founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1854 by the Genoese Alessandro Galleano Ravara, comprising publications from July 1854 to May 1855. This work demonstrates the pioneering role played by Galleano in periodicals specializing in Italian cultural themes during that period. Additionally, an analysis is conducted on the construction of the symbolic identity image conceived within the rubric through artistic themes. Initially, the relevance acquired by the newspaper among intellectuals of the time is highlighted. They exhibited a clear adherence to its mission of promoting Italian letters in Brazil, challenging the prevailing French cultural hegemony. For them, L'Iride was a unique and unprecedented opportunity for the circulation of Italian cultural themes in Brazil, as well as being founded by a figure whose social and cultural capital was expanded through his respected role in Rio de Janeiro’s society. In the analysis of the materiality and content of the rubric, its columnist acted as a relevant cultural mediator, using the newspaper as a support for cultural transfer, through the propagation of contents and critical assessments that reinvigorated themes of strong cultural appeal to the imperial elite. In addition, the rubric used its discursive space for the formulation of a concept of Italianity in Brazil, having demonstrated and confirmed the Italian cultural superiority through the “Italianization” of the French soprano Madame Charton, thus confirming the Italian preeminence in that matter and suggesting French submission to that art.