Um projeto católico de nação: Serafim Leite S. J. (1890-1969) e a obra Páginas de História do Brasil

Abstract

This work had as its theme the thought of the catholic intellectual Portuguese-Brazilian Serafim Leite (1890-1969). Serafim Leite was a Society of Jesus’ father and, although Portuguese, he had lived for many years in Brazil, where he became intellectually known for his great research work about the history of the Jesuits in the time of the Portuguese colonization in America. His works had guaranteed him participation in the intellectual groups in Brazil and in Portugal. The article presupposed that the intellectual work of an author can be source of the historical research in Education, because it is elucidative a social project in discussion at some time of history. The objective of the text was to analyze some elements of his thoughts about the past of the Jesuits in the colonization in order to understand the project of nation defended by the author in the 1930s. The main source used on this discussion is the book Paginas de Historia do Brasil , published in 1937, as part of the famous Colecao Brasiliana . The analysis considered in his thought, the conceptions of history, society and education. Through the study of these notions, it was possible to affirm that the project of one catholic nation advocated by Serafim Leite coincides with other discourses of part of the Brazilian intelligentsia that during the first half of the 20 th century had been interested on giving sense to the idea of nationality and unity to the Brazilian people.