Literary Sources of Brazilian Culture for the History of Psychological Knowledge

Abstract

This article discusses the use of literary sources in the context of the history of psychological knowledge. Firstly, it presents the contribution of Dilthey and Huizinga in the discussion of the interfaces between history, psychology and literature. Secondly, it presents an example of a literary source analysis in the context of the history of psychological knowledge: the study of the allegorical novel written by the Jesuit Alexandre de Gusmão, História do Predestinado Peregrino e de seu irmão Precito (“History of the Predestined Pilgrim and his Reprobate Brother”) (1682). It points out that the literary source can be approached from the perspective of the history of psychological knowledge both on account of its ability to transmit psychological concepts and practices and to exert effects on the psychic dynamism of the recipients by means of rhetorical construction.