A FIGURA DO CABOCLO E AS QUESTÕES DE SAÚDE PÚBLICA EM LOBATO: O PROBLEMA VITAL DO BRASIL NO INÍCIO SÉCULO XX

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss issues related to Brazilian public health in the early XX century based on the literary representation of Monteiro Lobato. The author discusses this theme in the figure of the caboclo, portrayed in the midst of the crisis of yellow fever and malaria that was plaguing the country early XX century. At that time more than 70% of the Brazilian population had this diseases. Thus, the short stories “Velha Praga”, “Urupês” and “Jeca Tatu, A resurrição” are analyzed with an emphasis on the Brazilian health issue at the time. The research will privilege a materialist-historical view in relation to the works and contexts covered. It was observed that Lobato initially portrays his caboclo characters in a negative way, attributing all sorts of problems in the rural area to them. However, when he comes in contact with scientific discourses, he starts to attribute the problems of the field to endemic diseases, which could be cured by science.