The Nudity as Stigma

The Images of Witches and Tupinambá Indigenous in 16Th Century

Abstract

The movement of persecution and demonization of women, known as the “witch hunt”, extended from the 15th to the 18th century throughout Europe. This persecution against women accused of practicing witchcraft intensified especially after the creation of the Tribunal of the Holy Office, which functioned as a kind of religious court that condemned all those who were against the dogmas preached by the Catholic Church or who were considered a threat to the doctrines. christians. The objective of this dissertation, still in progress, is to show how the persecution of the Catholic Church associated with the dissemination of images of the nude Tupinambá indigenous influenced the dissemination of stereotypes of women considered as evil witches in pamphlets in Europe in the 16th century. We will use the proposals of studies on the image of Hans Belting and Norval Baitello Junior, in addition to the method of polyimaging by Isabelle Anchieta, to analyze, from images collected online, the role of the press in the construction of stigmas related to the naked body of women. women believed to be witches. This dissertation seeks to highlight the fact that, when we talk about the persecution of women considered witches, we are also telling a part of the history of women and the challenges faced in patriarchal and misogynistic societies.