Imprensa e educação: a “gripe espanhola” nas páginas dos impressos de São Paulo e do Rio de Janeiro (1918)

Abstract

At the end of World War I, a new form of influenza was rapidly spreading around the world, turning into a pandemic. The deadliest phase took place in the last quarter of 1918 and caused significant changes in the administration of countries at different levels of their social, health, political organizations etc. This research aimed to carry out a study on the press in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro during the 1918 pandemic, showing the construction of the narrative of events, the most discussed subjects, the approaches and the analysis of data on the that was this health crisis at the beginning of the 20th century. Faced with this scenario of proliferation of a disease of unknown and lethal characteristics, it becomes pertinent to understand, in general, how different periodicals acted in relation to the education of the people in a moment of urgency, and what wasup to instruction public at the same time. The research was structured from a database, thought as a research instrument, for the collection and cataloging of data produced by the press of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, having as research base the digital library of the National Library Foundation and digitized collections of Brazilian newspapers, such as the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo. News from cataloged journals were organizedby thematic axes, according to the subjects addressed about the pandemic, such as: the transformation of school spaces; the performance of teachers; the guidelines of the Sanitary Service containing the prophylactic measures that the population should learn and follow; among other items. The research was supported by two major references: studies on the press focused on the formation of science readers and were based on the writings of Nieto-Galan (2011). Sontag (1977) was used to understand the forms of representation that influenza assumed. There is an emphasis on the verification of facts related to public education during the period and the forms of knowledge, scientific and popular, that circulated during the pandemic and helped to guide the people towards preventing and combating the disease. As a result, we see that, in a few months, life in the cities was completely changed and the population was looking for ways to understand and fight the evil that was established. Among the different changes in habits, public education was also affected, and schools had their functioning impaired, classes suspended, uncertainties about the health of students. The press played a role in guiding the behavior of the people, but the narrative presentation of a fragmented pandemic is perceived, depending on the social and political positioning of the printed matter, towards the transmission of information to their respective readerships