A mulher na revista ‘Seleções do Reader´s Digest’ (1942-1945)

Resumo (EN)

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the feminine figure in the magazine Reader’s Digest, which arrived in Brazil in 1942. At that moment, due to political and economic changes generated by World War II, women were urged to assume new social roles. In this light, this study has been carried out from the perspective of discourse analysis, with the support of a vast bibliographical research and compilation of historical documents. In a first moment, this dissertation gives priority to the historical context in order to better understand Brazil’s cultural scenario at the time. Then, the structure of the magazine is analyzed to be able to perceive the way it is constructed as well as the communication strategies employed. Finally, in the section “Articles of Permanent Interest” some ads about women’s universe are studied to identify how the feminine image was being represented at that time by the printed press. The research on the historical context is based on the works of Antônio Pedro Tota, Eric Hobsbawn, Hannah Arendt, Maria Helena Capelato, Ricardo Seitenfus and Vágner Camilo Alves. To better understand the Seleções printing press at the time were studied the following authors: Érica Monteiro, John Heidenry and Mary Anne Junqueira. To develop a theoretical context from the perspective of Discourse Analysis were considered the works of José Luís Fiorin and Mikhail Bakhtin. Finally, the research on gender is based on the theories of Joan Scott, Pierre Bourdieu and Rachel Soihet. The relevance of this dissertation is related to the fact that in 1943 7.000.000 issues of this publication were circulated worldwide, while in Brazil were distributed 500.000 copies. Besides, there are very few studies on gender related issues in the 1940s.