Carmen Dolores: uma voz dissonante na Belle Époque

Abstract

The so-called Regeneration of Rio de Janeiro or Bota-Abaixo, expression used by those who suffered its deleterious social effects, had success in the fight against endemic diseases in the city e and improved of the port’s infrastructure, but worsened precarious living conditions of the poorest sections of the population. Newspapers and magazines strove to build a consensus in favor of the reforms led by mayor Pereira Passos and to combat groups that resisted the urban transformation. In the preserved archives of periodicals, mainly in the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, one can find an isolated voice that criticized the Pereira Passos reforms as a whole or some of their negative consequences. Carmen Dolores, pseudonym of Emília Moncorvo Bandeira de Melo, was one of these voices. She was conscious to the anti-popular nature of Pereira Passos’ reforms e openly criticized their political purposes. Having achieved a reputation as a courageous chronicler with her Sunday column “A semana”, published in the morning newspaper O País from 1905 until her death in 1910, Carmen Dolores established a brief controversy with Olavo Bilac, who was perhaps, in the press, the main supporter of Regeneration in three important vehicles of the period: the morning newspaper Gazeta de Notícias, the afternoon newspaper A Notícia and the luxurious monthly illustrated magazine Kosmos.