Acceso usuarios
Maria Manuela Tavares Ribeiro
The images of parliamentary life in the Portuguese and other Parliaments to be found from the last quarter of the nineteenth century are the product of a number of changes which can only be identified by examining the period several decades earlier and by considering politics as an entity, seeking to identify intellectual change and the evidence from the images themselves. At the core of this discussion is the work of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro. The image is a curious object offered to the viewer and its ambivalent nature arises from the diversity of reactions to it. Conceived of as a �document� as defined by scholars, and even as a useful source, an image can help us to achieve our research objectives and to add to knowledge. All historians are capable of interrogating images, just as they interrogate texts or archaeological remains. The image can enrich narrative and discussion. Of all images, the caricature stands out for its range of values. If it derides its subjects, it also brings out their psychological reality. A printed drawing does more than praise or exalt. It can be, as is often the case, a weapon in an ideological war. We teach with and through images, through laughter, criticism and satire. Here is the everyday life of the Parliament, transposed by an image � the caricature � in metaphoric, anthropomorphic, symbolic and objective terms.
