ABSTRACT
From the analytical perspective of material culture, this article will investigate the valuation of appearances in Portuguese society in the first half of the 18th century, through the examination of representations of clothing and appearance in the cordel literature produced by Frei Lucas de Santa Catarina. The objective is to observe some aspects of the relationships between appearances and behaviors in the construction of a satire that aimed to criticize the non-correspondence between being and appearing, in a context of emerging social mobility for several sectors. Such texts provide historians with a broad framework where clothing and behavior are described amid everyday routines. From these descriptions, we will observe the sets of artifacts necessary to care for the image to be presented in social environments, analyzing its uses and the perception of these transcripts in the selected sources. Thus, we will reflect on some of the clashes over clothing and fashion trends that were based on the challenge of social ascension and the effort to contain a broad process of change that marked the Portuguese society of the period.
KEYWORDS:
Material Culture; Appearance; Social Hierarchy