Retórica e crítica documental na escrita biográfica da Academia Real das Ciências de Lisboa (1806-1835)

Abstract

This study examines the introduction of documentary criticism in biographical writing at the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. Established during the reign of Queen Maria I in 1779, the academy published writings on the lives and works of prominent figures in Portuguese history in its collections Memórias de Literatura (1792–1814) and História e Memórias (1792–1835). These periodical collections encapsulated the effort and originality of the project that conceived the scientific study of Portuguese history in the first half of the 19th century. In this movement, biographical writing, traditionally linked to the precepts of the rhetorical-poetic genre, began to incorporate the scientific reflections established within the framework of the natural sciences. The emphasis on the authority of the "authentic document" in the scientific study of literature enabled the emergence of a modern conception of historical evidence in biographical writing, which came to coexist with an older form of evidence derived from classical rhetorical methods.