Maceió is a Mythical City: The myth of origin in Nise da Silveira

Abstract

The field of mental health in Brazil covers two periods of time: the one involving the campaigns in favor of the insane asylums, from 1829 until the first decades of the twentieth century; and the antiasylum campaigns, which had their initial mark in the Movimento de Trabalhadores de Saúde Mental (Mental Health Workers Movement) in 1978. Between one movement and another, studies developed in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were left forgotten and authors of this period are referred to as pioneers, establishing a variant in the search for the myth of origin. The present article discusses the myth of origin in Nise da Silveiras writings through the stories of her childhood, given the fact that her contributions in the field of mental health are seen, by several groups, as a fruit of her geniality and/or pioneering, finding explanations in the autobiographical reports, consecrated by her followers.