ANAHY DE LAS MISIONES: representações de gênero e resistência feminina no contexto das guerras platinas ou na guerra dos farrapos.

Abstract

This study analyzes the film Anahy de las Misiones (1997), directed by Sérgio Silva, as both a source and object of historical research, emphasizing the representations of gender and forms of female resistance during the Ragamuffin War (1835–1845). The research starts from the conception of cinema as a medium of historical re-signification, capable of questioning official narratives focused on military achievements and male leaders. By placing Anahy — a woman, mother, smuggler, and survivor — at the center of the plot, the film highlights historically silenced trajectories and proposes a counter-hegemonic reading of historiography. The analysis of the character and her actions reveals how everyday female resistance, although often invisible, carries political and historical significance. Based on the reflections of Joan Scott and Michelle Perrot, the study demonstrates that gender is an essential category for denaturalizing social relations and understanding the exclusion of women from official memory. It concludes that cinema, by recovering marginalized voices, can contribute to building a more plural, critical, and inclusive historical consciousness, as well as to strengthening future research on women’s participation in wars and political processes in Brazil and Latin America.