Campo museológico brasileiro: possibilidades de análise a partir da teoria de Pierre Bourdieu

The aim of this text is to discuss the possibilities of applying Pierre Bourdieu’s theory for analyzing the Museology area in Brazil. In order to do this, first his production is examined, especially the ones related to museums and their symbolic capital. The notion of field is presented as a theoretical-methodological resource to observe the relations between those who produce, reproduce and negotiate a vision of what a museum is and what it is for. Considering that agents (individuals and institutions) gather in positions, we propose one representation about the Brazilian museum field. The habitus concept also helps us to understand how symbolic capitals are formed and what their relevance is in the relational dynamics around museums. With the help of trajectory information of Waldisa Rússio Camargo Guarnieri (active Brazilian museologist between the years 1970-1990), we observe the construction of the authority condition, according to the dispositions inherited and cultivated by the subjects. The relations between the bodies that occupy space in the field, their positions and the symbolic capital they negotiated are problematized. The conclusion is that Bourdieu’s theory contributes to the understanding of Brazilian museums and museology, as long as the criticism of the author and the particularities of the Latin American context are not neglected.