Academic journalism at “O Olindense”

Practices and representations of Olinda Law students (1831-1832)

Abstract

In this study, our objective is to investigate the journalism practice of the law academic brothers, Sérgio and Álvaro Teixeira de Macedo, in the newspaper “O Olindense”, which circulated between 1831 and 1832, leading discussions on the educational routine of the Law School of Olinda. Considering the space/time of this study, we will make a qualitative analysis of the column “Curso Jurídico” published in the periodical and currently available on the digital platform of the Hemeroteca of the National Library, which contains more than 27 (twenty-seven) occurrences of this column, which dealt with assessments, readings, subjects, teachers and students of Olinda. Here, we will analyze “O Olindense” from the perspective of the New Cultural History, that is, as a practice and representation that served as a political instrument transforming debates about methods and techniques in Law classes, more strictly, and sociability in the city of Olinda, more broadly, making this activity an important means of questioning the construction of the Imperial order and of Law itself. Therefore, the press is studied here as a practice that was at the same time a “product” and “creator” of the representations of Law Courses in Brazil.