The staging of discord: Cinematographic consumption and the formation of middle-class culture in Belle Epoque carioca

Following the perspective of Cultural History guided by questions related to ethnography, this work analyzes the formation of a middle-class culture in the beginning of XXth century in Rio de Janeiro, by observing some practices related to cinematographic consumption. Focusing on a protest by students against a film exhibitor and its consequences, we launched the questions: a) which relations can we draw between these students and a middle-class culture in the beginning of the XXth century? and, as a secondary issue, b) to what extent the making of a protest against the owner of a cinema reveals some sources of tension between cinema exhibitors and the public? The treatment of sources (23 articles published in eight newspapers between May 14th and May 31st, 1913) is based on the scientific paradigm, a methodology proposed by historian Carlo Ginzburg, which has been guiding this research in the collections of National Library of Brazil.