A Savage in Milan? A Hero in Río? Masculinities, Race, and Nation: The Representation of Carlos Gomes in Italian and Brazilian Illustrated Magazines (1870-1896)
Abstract
This article examines the portrayal of the opera composer Antônio Carlos Gomes in illustrated magazines from Milan and Rio de Janeiro spanning the years 1870 to 1896. Through an analysis of selected drawings, caricatures, and photographs, it investigates the intersections between Gomes’ visual representation and the generation of discourses related to masculinity, race, and nationality. On the one hand, the study dissects the Italian press’s depiction of Gomes as a “domesticated savage” and, on the other, reflects on the mythification, heroisation and whitewashing of his persona in Brazil. Consequently, by comparing two visions, this text calls for a reconsideration of how the artist’s image was constructed and perpetuated, thereby destabilising hegemonic narratives surrounding his legacy, while also challenging the intersection of the categories of gender, race, and nation.
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