A paixão de Quitéria: crime, pecado ou indecência? uma contribuição aos estudos críticos do discurso

Abstract

This research had as objective recounts the history of the woman Quitéria Bandeira de Melo and the priest Antônio Soares Barbosa, both of them accused of articulating a supposed conspiracy to murder Jerônimo José de Melo e Castro, governor of Parahyba territory during the period from 1764 to 1797. In order to do that, an analysis of the discursive practice related to the sexual, religious, and gender morality in that colonial possession in the second half of the eighteenth-century was made. The study used as source copies of the speeches contained in the manuscripts hold by the Foreign Historical File of Lisbon, Portugal. The analysis was made in the perspective of the Critical Discourse Studies with focus on the relationships of power related to the gender category. It is expected that the result of this research can contribute to a better understanding of the religious moral conduct imposed to women through the discursive practices in the period from 1770 to 1785 in the colonial Parahyba.