Portuguese Language Blog
Menu
Search

[Brazilian literature] – Brasil: Uma biografia Posted by on Oct 7, 2017 in Brazilian News, Brazilian Profile, Culture, Customs, Literature

Biographies are, by definition, a literary genre that aims to provide a person’s life history, describing their experience, main events and relationships in detail. In Brasil: Uma biografia (Brazil: a biography) by scholars Lilian Schwarcz and Heloisa Starling, though the approach is the same, there is a little twist to it: the protagonist is our country, Brazil.

Palavras-chave | keywords: país (country), história (history), passado (past), nação (nation), livro (book), personagem (character), leitura (reading)

Through this unconventional proposal, the two autoras (authors) choose Brazil as the personagem principal (main character) of their livro (book), using an involving prose that results in a pleasant reading to anyone that is interested in aprender (learning) more about our nation’s passado (past).

As autoras | The authors

Heloísa e Lilian respectively (photo by UFMG)

Lilia Schwarcz is a historian and anthropologist from São Paulo, head of renowned Brazilian publisher Companhia das Letras. She is a professor at USP (Universidade de São Paulo) and bibliography includes over quatorze (14) books focusing mostly on issues of raça (race), história (história) and imperial era Brazil.

Heloísa Starling is a political scientist who teaches at UFMG (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) at the humanities department. Among her areas of expertise is Brazilian republic and dictatorship.

O livro | The book

Capa do livro | Book cover (photo by Companhia das Letras)

Divided into several major historic moments, the narrative reflects upon our past and our history and how this nation was built, offering the authors’ perspective on events with a critical outlook. Throughout these cinco (5) centuries, their careful pesquisa (research) guide us through a portrait of Brazil, its raízes (roots) and trajectory comprising the early said ‘encounter’ with the Europeans, the lasting impact of their arrival in our territory, the period of colonization with a discussion of the colonial system and its consequent crisis, the importance of African culture to help shape our formation, the independence from Portugal, Brazilian republic and military dictatorship.

Schwarcz and Starling follow a chronological order of fatos (facts) to examine our identidade nacional (national identity) and the political, economical, cultural social conflicts that have constituted this país (country). Their account, at the same time objective and detailed,  document over the anos (years), but also debunk many myths. Brasil: Uma biografia reveals this complex, yet fascinating subject. A plural and diverse land formed by Portuguese, indigenous people, africans and foreign immigrants that have resulted in this often contradictory anti-hero named Brazil.

Here is a list of capítulos (chapters) so you can have a brief overview:

Acervos pesquisados e suas abreviaturas 9
Introdução ou “O Brasil fica bem perto daqui” 13
1. Primeiro veio o nome, depois uma terra chamada Brasil 21
2. Tão doce como amarga: a civilização do açúcar 50
3. Toma lá dá cá: o sistema escravocrata e a naturalização da violência 79
4. É ouro! 107
5. Revoltas, conjurações, motins e sedições no paraíso dos trópicos 129
6. Homens à vista: uma corte ao mar 151
7. D. João e seu reino americano 172
8. Quem foi para Portugal perdeu o lugar: vai o pai, fica o filho 200
9. Habemus independência: instabilidade combina com Primeiro Reinado 223
10. Regências ou o som do silêncio 243
11. Segundo Reinado: enfim uma nação nos trópicos 267
12. Ela vai cair: o fim da monarquia no Brasil 291
13. A Primeira República e o povo nas ruas 318
14. Samba, malandragem e muito autoritarismo na gênese do Brasil moderno 351
15. Yes, nós temos democracia 386
16. Os anos 1950-1960: a bossa, a democracia e o país subdesenvolvido 412
17. No fio da navalha: ditadura, oposição e resistência 437
18. No caminho da democracia: a transição para o poder civil e as
ambiguidades e heranças da ditadura militar 467
Conclusão — História não é conta de somar 499
Notas 509
Referências bibliográficas 563
Cronologia 599
Agradecimentos 633
Créditos das imagens 637
Índice remissivo 645

Are you intrigued? You can purchase it at Amazon (or any other online bookstore of your choosing): https://www.amazon.com.br/Brasil-Biografia-Lilia-M-Schwarcz/dp/853592566X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507418341&sr=8-1&keywords=brasil+uma+biografia

Boa semana! Have a good week!

Tags: , , , , , ,
Keep learning Brazilian Portuguese with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Try it Free Find it at your Library
Share this:
Pin it