Which America? Brazilian intellectual formulations about Latin America at the turn of the century and their impacts on the constructions of national identity

Rafael Rossotto Ioris

doi:10.5335/hdtv.16n.2.6928

Abstract

At the turn of the 20th century, with the coming of a new political regime in the country, Brazilians intellectuals actively engaged in a creative reflection about the historical relation of their nation with its surrounding Spanish-speaking neighbors. And although no unified view was to emerge, as a whole these works and ensuing debates offered an opportunity for these publicly engaged writers to reinsert, under a new yet still largely critical light, the regional context into much needed discussions on national identity and associated national projects. How this new dynamic operated and how they are situated within the long-term of Brazilian history are the focus of this study. Keywords: Intellectuals. Latin America.National identity.

Highlights

Eduardo Prado and the American IllusionSon of one of the most aristocratic families of the country, Eduardo Prado (1860-1901) was a monarchist who reflected on the destiny of the country at the end of the nineteenth century
At the turn of the 20th century, with the coming of a new political regime in the country, Brazilians intellectuals actively engaged in a creative reflection about the historical relation of their nation with its surrounding Spanish-speaking neighbors
Starting to pave a somewhat different course, as national independence movements began around the first quarter of the nineteenth century and former Spanish colonies broke apart into many new republics, a significant part of the Brazilian political elites – the majority of whom were involved in the process of making Brazil into an independent and unified kingdom felt that the high levels of uncertainty and violence taking place in Spanish America had to be managed in ways that would not affect the territorial integrity of their new, Portuguese-speaking empire

Summary

Eduardo Prado and the American Illusion

Son of one of the most aristocratic families of the country, Eduardo Prado (1860-1901) was a monarchist who reflected on the destiny of the country at the end of the nineteenth century. He went to great lengths to portray the Monroe Doctrine as a fallacy, utilized to defend specific U.S interests in the region He continued his criticism of uncritically copied foreign models by arguing that Spanish-American nations, by copying U.S notions, denied their own traditions, producing disaster for themselves The search for a moral model was important as Prado saw LatinAmerican societies in a desperate need of values because their mestizo reality had produced, on his view, low moral and cultural standards He argued that Brazil should continue on a path of selfsufficiency, maintaining strong international relations with European nations instead of attempting to insert itself within an unstable and authoritarian regional political context. Defined essentially in opposition to Brazil, Latin (Spanish) America is seen as an inherently distinct and potentially dangerous reality – notions that would be replicated by other authors, and that, at times, still find some support among contemporary Brazilian intellectuals

Silvio Romero and the need for a Brazilian philosophical thought

Oliveira Lima and the conservative criticism of Latin Americanism

Manoel Bomfim and the Latin American project as an alternative

Alberto Torres and the New Nationalist Emphasis

Concluding remarks