Political rituals and representations of the past: about the funeral of "men of letters" in the transition from empire to republic/Rituais politicos e representacoes do passado: sobre osfunerais de "homens de " na passagem do imperio a republica/Rituels politiques et representations du passe: a propos des funerailles des hommes de lettres dans la transition de l'empire a la republique

This article proposes an analysis of the funerals of "men of letters" within the most general level of changes in political rituals and forms of public consecration that characterized the late period of the empire and early republic. It is intended to present a comprehensive reading of such events, showing its relation to a particular memory system and more profound transformations in different ways to make sense of the past. Changes in the forms of written history, biographies and practice of monumentalization take on particular importance in this way of thinking, which does not imply disregarding the specificity of these different literary practices or discourse genres.