The Human Tradition in Modern Brazil

Edited by Peter M. Beattie

Not available to order

Publication date:

01 October 2003

Length of book:

304 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780842050388

The Human Tradition in Modern Brazil makes the last two centuries of Brazilian history come alive through the stories of mostly non-elite individuals. The pieces in this lively collection address how people experienced historical continuities and changes by exploring how they related to the rise of Brazilian national identity and the emergence of a national state. By including a broad array of historical actors from different regions, ethnicities, occupations, races, genders, and eras, The Human Tradition in Modern Brazil brings a human dimension to major economic, political, cultural, and social transitions. While many books on modern Brazilian history emphasize the growth of the state and the oscillations of nationalist sentiment by generalizing about groups of undifferentiated people such as slaves, industrial workers, army officers, Indians, and clerics, The Human Tradition in Modern Brazil brings a personal perspective to broad historical events and trends. Because these perspectives do not always fit with the generalizations made about the predominant attitudes, values, and beliefs of different groups, they bring a welcomed complexity to the understanding of Brazilian society and history. These original and gripping vignettes of life and society in Brazil are sure to engage readers with its colorful stories of Brazilians throughout the past.

Chapter 1 Introduction: The Individual and the Collective Community in the Human Tradition of Modern Brazil
Part 2 The Independence and Early Imperial Generations (1800–1869)
Chapter 3 Daniel Gomes de Freitas: Liberal Conspiracy in Brazil's Early National Period
Chapter 4 Agostinho Jose Pereira: The Divine Master (O Divino Mestre)
Part 5 II The Generations of the Late Empire (1870–1889) and the Old Republic (1889–1930)
Chapter 6 Juca Rosa: Famous Spiritual Leader and Healer of Rio de Janeiro
Chapter 7 Jacobina Maurer: German-Brazilian Mystic
Chapter 8 Adolfo Ferreira Caminha: Ardent Republican and Naturalist Novelist
Chapter 9 Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon: One Man's Tireless Quest for the Brazilian Nation
Part 10 III The Populist-Era Generation (1930–1959)
Chapter 11 Geraldo Pereira: Samba Composer and Grifter
Chapter 12 Domingos da Guia: The Trajectory of a Mestizo Hero On and Off the Soccer Field
Chapter 13 Norma Fraga: Race, Class, Education, and the Estado Novo (1937–45)
Chapter 14 Vicente Racioppi: The Local Preservationist and the National State
Part 15 IV The Generations of Authoritarian Military Rule and Redemocratization: (1960 to the Twenty-First Century)
Chapter 16 Jofre CorrLa Netto: The Fidel Castro of Brazil
Chapter 17 Carolina Maria de Jesus: From Rag Picking to Best-Selling Author and Back Again
Chapter 18 Dom Helder Camara: The Father of the Brazilian Church of the Poor
Chapter 19 Madame Satp (Satan): The Black "Queen" of Brazilian Bohemia
Chapter 20 Mario Juruna: Brazil's First Indigenous Congressman

The Human Tradition in Modern Brazil continues the non-elite biography approach established in The Human Tradition in Modern Latin America (1997), edited by William H. Beezley and Judith Ewell, and The Human Tradition in Mexico (2003), edited by Jeffrey M. Pilcher. The non-elite biographies in the earlier volumes facilitate comparative analysis of Latin America, and the array of historical scholarship in Beattie's volume enable even more effective regional comparisons. The biographers' epistemological questions will resonate with Brazilian specialists who analyze how social and cultural context helps develop nationhood. By examining what nation meant to Brazilians of diverse social, regional, racial, and cultural descriptions, Beattie, and the biographers have enriched our understanding of Brazilian history and Brazilian national identity.