Octávio de Freitas e as crônicas médicas em Pernambuco

Abstract

This article analyzes the textual production, in a chronicle format, by the doctor and sanitary practitioner Octávio de Freitas, in the first decades of the early 20th century. The respective doctor had his academic training between the Medical Faculties of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, during the late 19th century. Through his work in public office in the State of Pernambuco, Freitas left an immense textual legacy. This fact enabled the circulation of his written word in an intense way. Using the field concept of the French theorist Pierre Bourdieu, we found that Octávio de Freitas was part of the field of experimental medicine, which was being structured in the early 20th century, with medical chronicles being one of the resources used by doctors for the dissemination of microbiological knowledge.