ONLINE PRIVACY SEMINAR: Historical Notions of Privacy in Latin America with Prof. Adriano Comissoli

Reuníon politique a Fernambouc", 1846. Denis, Ferdinand, 1798-1890

This series of seminars aims to address historical issues of privacy in Latin America, in Europe, and transregionally. Each month, one of the participants will present a work-in-progress, which will be circulated in advance and discussed online via zoom. This event is open, and scholars of all countries are welcome to join. Meetings will be held on the last Thursday of the month at 17:00 CEST/CET. Exceptions will be informed in advance. The language of the seminar is English. If necessary, questions in Portuguese or Spanish can be posted on the chat and will be translated.

This month we will return to look at strategies of privacy in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Iberian colonies in South America. Prof. Adriano Comissoli will present his work-in-progress on communication, confidence and friendship in the colonial context on our next meeting, which will take place on March 25, at 17:00 CET (13:00 BRT).

Prof. Comissoli's WIP is:        

Communicating hidden thoughts: confidence and friendship in Iberian America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

This paper will discuss privacy in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Iberian America. Here, privacy and intimacy will be understood as a set of relations that allows a close group of people to share experiences and ideas, enabling a level of communication that is guided by trust. To achieve this goal, I explore the Portuguese terminology that expresses the private sphere, applying those ideas to the convoluted context of the southern American borderlands between Portuguese and Spanish dominions. There, the two kingdoms built very similar societies, based on very similar social structures, and yet nurtured a persistent rivalry, sustained by expansionist projects over the land and the people of the region.

Those borderlands saw the rise of extreme competition and distrust, which at the same time gave birth to coexistence and relationships that surpassed the limits established by diplomatic treaties. As people move across the border, it is possible to access some hints of what they use to think of friendship, good acquaintanceship, and confidence, and how this was expressed in conversations that enabled sincerity and trust to flow between social actors.

To join the discussion, please send an email to: nkk@teol.ku.dk