The research “Gilda de Mello e Souza and the ‘poor aesthetics’” investigates the thought of a Brazilian woman who was Professor of Aesthetics and Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of São Paulo in the last Century. She was also an art critic that influenced generations. The intellectuals and critics she taught have been reflecting on art and culture in the country. Despite the academic relevance of Gilda, her critical essays are still little explored in the Philosophical field in Brazil. For this reason, I aim to investigate both the published works and the manuscripts from her Archive, held by the Institute of Brazilian Studies of the University of São Paulo (USP, Brazil). The theme of the thesis is the notion of “poor aesthetics” which can be related to both Brazilian culture and the artistic creation of women. This research is undertaken at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Campinas (Unicamp, Brazil), under the mentorship of Professor Taisa Palhares.

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