Why can't I “want to fix the sun and observe the moon”?: “Deviants” from work and their falling ill in of the Colônia Juliano Moreira-RJ (1930-1945)

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the history of men hospitalized in Colônia Juliano (CJM) who presented evidence in their documentation of hospitalizations for work-related mental illnesses. The work methodology was the survey and selection of the group of interns analyzing the main documentary sources of the interns’ medical records. In Brazil, it was during the Vargas government that labor and workers became targets of more intense public policies in the search for the construction of the “nation”. The individual man, provider of the family and citizen - productive worker, was expected to be a “respectable” head of In this article, we analyze the history of men hospitalized in Colônia Juliano (CJM) who presented evidence in their documentation of hospitalizations for work-related mental illnesses. The work methodology was the survey and selection of the group of interns analyzing the main documentary sources of the interns’ medical records. In Brazil, it was during the Vargas government that labor and workers became targets of more intense public policies in the search for the construction of the “nation”. The individual man, provider of the family and citizen - productive worker, was expected to be a “respectable” head of the family, enjoying good health and very disciplined, the basis of national construction. Thus, any deviation from this model, whether due to indiscipline or physical and mental exhaustion resulting from activities and working conditions, made these men “deviants” from the project of nation and society that was defending themselves at that time and, therefore, liable to be considered “Crazy” and hospitalized in psychiatric institutions for treatment and recovery.

Keywords

• history of madness
• labour history
• history of brazil