Doença e cativeiro: um estudo sobre mortalidade e sociabilidades escravas no Rio de Janeiro, 1809-1831

Abstract

This dissertation will discuss the analytical possibilities - for the universe of the slavery thematic in Brazil - approaches about slavery, death and disease. With the analysis of the diseases that used to struck the captives of the Irajá and Candelária areas, it is reached to point out the precarious life conditions on those Rio de Janeiro settlements, between the years of 1809 and 1831. Having as supports serial sources as parishes obit books, post-mortem inventories, medical records and chroniclers memorials, it was possible to rebuilt the historical processes scenarios involving slave mortality. Moreover, the diseases study of certain population group may enlarger the perception of various dimensions of the social life, both in the slave quarters of large and small Rio de Janeiro breeding stocks as in the complex urban settings located in the heart of the slavery city. Therefore, the analysis of these data makes clear that the deaths causes were directly related to the particularities of each environment, thus also revealing how the diseases analysis would reflect the experience of mortality of an especific group. Thus, it is proposed to demonstrate how the dialogue with the regions analyzed provide compelling evidences about how the slaves lived and coped with the experience of illness and death.