Abstract
This essay considers the roles of sound in racialization processes in late nineteenth-century Salvador da Bahia as evidenced in the work of Raimundo Nina Rodrigues (1862–1906). While his work is frequently situated in discussions of Afro-Brazilian culture, eugenics, and scientific racism, this discussion asks how the specific sonic spectrum of the behaviors and practices considered through his work shaped listening practices in the context of medical criminology. The discussion returns to reported cases of dancing manias in Salvador and other parts of Northeastern Brazil that were disruptive enough to warrant the creation of a special report to the Emperor. Nina Rodrigues would return to this and similar reports as a point of departure for the consideration of more general relationships between sound, consciousness, and sociability. Through a discussion and analysis of his case study of a young Afro-Brazilian woman apparently named Fausta, this essay, furthermore, draws comparisons between the Bahian doctor’s clinical approaches and those of the French neuropathologists with which he sought dialogue.
Resumo
Abstract
This essay considers the roles of sound in racialization processes in late nineteenth-century Salvador da Bahia as evidenced in the work of Raimundo Nina Rodrigues (1862–1906). While his work is frequently situated in discussions of Afro-Brazilian culture, eugenics, and scientific racism, this discussion asks how the specific sonic spectrum of the behaviors and practices considered through his work shaped listening practices in the context of medical criminology. The discussion returns to reported cases of dancing manias in Salvador and other parts of Northeastern Brazil that were disruptive enough to warrant the creation of a special report to the Emperor. Nina Rodrigues would return to this and similar reports as a point of departure for the consideration of more general relationships between sound, consciousness, and sociability. Through a discussion and analysis of his case study of a young Afro-Brazilian woman apparently named Fausta, this essay, furthermore, draws comparisons between the Bahian doctor’s clinical approaches and those of the French neuropathologists with which he sought dialogue.
- © 2017 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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