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The Dark Side of Toys in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Abstract

Investigations have been conducted at historical sites in Rio de Janeiro examining different domains of 19th-century material culture. The major goal of this research consists of analyzing a phenomenon peculiar to the formation of Brazilian society, namely the introduction of a bourgeois lifestyle, typical of capitalist societies, amid the slavery system that was still fully in force in the country. This ambiguity generated mixtures of modernities and archaisms, blending new forms of behavior with the traditional worldview of the colonial system. Powerful conveyors of nonverbal messages, toys are a type of material culture that constitutes a key domain for observing the forms engendered by a sociocultural system to ensure its own perpetuation. Through toys, it is possible to examine the moral values and social roles subliminally instilled in children. However, the ways in which children reacted to this indoctrination—mostly visible in their games but not in their toys—are more difficult to observe in the archaeological record.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Antropologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista s/n°, São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 20940-040

    Tania Andrade Lima

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  1. Tania Andrade Lima
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Lima, T.A. The Dark Side of Toys in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hist Arch 46, 63–78 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03376871

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