Lima Barreto and the National Hospital for the Insanes: When the Patient Describes the Psychiatrists

This article discusses the personal reports and the comments about the psychiatrists written by the author Lima Barreto during his hospitalization at the National Hospital for the Insane, during 1919-1920, at Rio de Janeiro. For this goal, will be used the texts “diário do hospício” and “o cemitério dos vivos”, where an unprecedent reversal of roles takes place, and the inpatient Lima Barreto critically analyzes the personality of the doctors who treat him, some of them founders of psychiatry in Brazil. The article presents the biographies of the writer and the medical doctors mentioned by him. Lima Barreto`s life was marked by difficulties because he was a black man and did not have a higher education degree. For this reason, the text also discusses social legacies of slavery in Brazilian society and the significance of the titles of bachelor or doctor to produce social distinction during the First Republic (1889-1930). In conclusion, it can be observed that Lima Barreto's narrative and the biography of the psychiatrists he described complement each other to highlight behaviors and paths of ascension characteristic of the elite with higher education, in addition to denouncing racial discrimination in Brazilian society.

Keywords:
Lima Barreto; The Cemetery of the Living; Hospice Diary; National Hospice for the Insane; History of Psychiatry