As Concepções acerca de Natureza e Tecnologia constantes nos artigos sobre a Produção de Borracha na Amazônia publicados na Revista lavoura Paraense no Período de 1908 a 1912.

Abstract

The research aimed to analyze articles on rubber published by the magazine "A Lavoura Paraense" of the Secretariat of Public Works, Lands and Roads of the State of Pará, in the period from 1908 to 1912. It was used the perspective of the "Discourse Analysis" method of studying the thought, considered in its effects both on the issuer of the discourse and on its eventual recipients, to identify the ideologies related to Technology and Nature in force in the debates about rubber production in the Amazon. It was found that the contempt of certain scholars for local technologies, the belief in the superiority of monoculture, and the fear of the competition that cultivated rubber might mean for Brazilian rubber dominated the debate and fueled the expectation of scientists that the adoption of the cultivation, latex collection, and rubber preparation techniques used on Asian rubber plantations could improve rubber production in the Amazon, making Brazilian rubber of superior quality. The research thus confirms what had already been demonstrated by Rosineide Bentes in previous studies and in the research project to which this paper is linked, in particular the scientific exaltation of monoculture and the disdain of certain scholars for local technologies of latex extraction, as well as the existence of different perceptions. In this specific study, two articles represent exceptions to this dominant perspective: three articles by Leopoldo P. Teixeira, a farmer (1909), defending the use of local methods of latex collection; and one article by Felix Regnault, a scientist, historizing the scientific debate on the issue of deforestation and its dire consequences. These articles will be examined more closely as they represent groundbreaking discoveries and the specific contribution of this research.