Statements about primitivism at the origin of the Psychology of Art in Brazil : some historical notes

• Autor(a) principal: Mattos, Ricardo Mendes
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Andriolo, Arley, Oliveira, Richard de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Memorandum (Belo Horizonte)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/memorandum/article/view/35279
• topic: primitivismo; Psicologia Social; arte; Mário de Andrade; primitivism; Social Psychology; art; Mário de Andrade

In this paper, we investigate a series of tensions noted by the presence of the term “primitive” as an enunciation in the origins of the psychology of the arts in Brazil. The exploration of meanings related to this term and correlated words (such as “primitivism”) allows us to map the marks of colonial domination, criticism and its overcoming possibilities. Our historical basis was some of the most important authors, whose texts became fundamental references for the academic field of the psychology of the arts in Brazil. The study of their conceptualization enables us to figure out the primitivism as an academic problem and as a shadow covering the origins of both the psychology of the arts and social psychology in Brazil. The interpretation of those writings allows us to identify statements that articulate the psychological approach to aesthetic objects produced by the popular classes and the invention of some coherent discursive categories. As a result, we hope to make evident the very genealogy of Brazilian art psychology, which was built through ambiguous foundations, articulated to colonial domination and its historical and political reflexes in scientific discourse. We conclude by pointing out the relevance of mapping and reflection on the presence of such ambiguities in the scientific approach to the aesthetic production of different subaltern social groups, historically invisible and represented in terms of minorities.