Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-22T12:02:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 igorguedesdecarvalho.pdf: 1439730 bytes, checksum: de18f937e4e84563f03e6e2e6ee296ea (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: on 2017-08-24T11:32:44Z (GMT) / Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-24T13:58:15Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-30T12:33:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T12:33:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-09-27 / Esta dissertação de mestrado procura esclarecer a relação estabelecida entre os praticantes da magia – curandeiros, benzedores, adivinhos e feiticeiras – e a sociedade colonial por meio das Visitações Eclesiásticas que varreram o interior da Capitania das Minas durante o século XVIII. Bispos, agentes inquisitoriais e representantes da Coroa portuguesa produziram uma série de documentos entre 1717 e 1802 que permitem perscrutar o cotidiano das Minas Setecentistas. As principais problemáticas do estudo são: quem eram estes mágicos? Qual sua relação com a população das Minas? Quais as solidariedades e conflitos que estabeleceram através de suas práticas? / This master’s thesis seeks to clarify the established relation between those practicing magic - healers, faith healers, soothsayers and sorceresses - and colonial society through Ecclesiastical Visitations that have swept the inside of the region of Minas during the eighteenth century. Bishops, inquisitorial agents and representatives of the Portuguese Crown produced a series of documents between 1717 and 1802 that allow to peer into the daily life of eighteenth-century in Minas. The main issues of the study are: who were these magicians? What is their relationship with the population of Minas? What solidarities and conflicts they have established through their practices?

This project argues that there is a previously unnamed canon of literature called Magical Feminism which exists across many current popular (even lowbrow) genres such as science-fiction, fantasy, so-called realistic literature, and contemporary television and film. I define Magical Feminism as a genre quite similar to Magical Realism, but assert that its main political thrust is to model a feminist agency for its readers. To define this genre, I closely-read the image of the female magic user as one of the most important Magical Feminist metaphors. I argue that the female magic user–commonly called the witch, but also labeled priestess, mistress, shaman, mambo, healer, midwife– is a metaphor for female unruliness and disruption to patriarchy and as such, is usually portrayed as evil and deserving of punishment. I assert that many (although not all) of the popular texts this genre includes are overlooked or ignored by the academy, and thus, that an important focus for contemporary feminism is missed. When the texts are noticed by parts of the academy, they are mostly considered popular culture novelty acts, not serious political genres. As part of my argument, I analyze third wave feminism’s attempt to reconcile traits previously considered less than feminist, such as the domestic. I also deconstruct the popular media’s negative portrayal of contemporary feminism and the resulting reluctance for many young women to identify themselves as feminist. I also argue that this reluctance goes hand in hand with a growing attempt to seek new models for empowering female epistemologies. My assertion is that these texts are the classrooms where many readers learn their feminism. Finally, I list a short bibliography as a way of defining canon of texts that should be considered Magical Feminist.