Representations of the Nurse on the Covers of the Red Cross Magazine During the First World War

Guaracy Carlos da silveira1 , Maria Carla Vieira Pinho2 , Egídio Shizuo Toda3

(1. Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, Brazil; 2. University Center of Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas, Brazil;

3. UNIP Pinheiros, São Paulo University, Brazil)

Abstract: Guided by the interdisciplinary proposal of Education, Art and History of Culture, the nurse’s imaginary and conceptual construction in society is analyzed, considering that it contributes to the referential, expectations and concepts about the nurse’s professional practice. In this study the covers of The Red Cross Magazine in the period of the First World War are interpreted. As an analysis methodology, the interpretation of the strategic construction of advertising persuasion was used. It was found that the Magazine contributed to the construction of the concept and image of the nurse and her activity, presenting the nurse as a divine being, who comforts and cares, leading to an image of donation and priesthood, generally associated with the profession.

Key words: history of visual media, nurse, the red cross magazine, advertising persuasion, semiotic analysis