Magazine ilustrado america: a imprensa carioca e a vida moderna na década de 1920

Abstract

This monograph focuses on the research of the illustrated magazine America, a printed periodical produced in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1923 that dealt with issues related to modernity, among its main themes are art, fashion, sport and cinema. The magazine is available in four editions in the digital collection of Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita and José Midlin. The research was developed based on its importance as it was printed in the 1920s, a period in which Brazilian and world society were undergoing social and economic transformations caused by the spread of modernity. For its analysis, the methodological bias of Cultural History is used, specifically by the French historian Roger Chartier, therefore, it focuses mainly on its production, on the graphic and page editing techniques, and on its reach of circulation. Therefore, firstly, Rio de Janeiro was contextualized in the 1920s, to problematize the environment in which America was born and to understand how graphic developments and the transformation of the press into a cultural industry took place. Subsequently, based on a mapping carried out on the contents of the four editions of the magazine, the relationship between traditional and modern customs was discussed, the ambiguity of ideals is reflected in the materials, opening up the field for problematizing the diffusion of modernity in print. In conclusion, the magazine America is located in the middle of several illustrated or specific journals, disputing the clientele and bringing interesting subjects to its readers, possibly being an intellectual project by Sylvio Figueiredo, its editorin- chief, a notable writer of the time.