Schwarz, Roberto - Misplaced Ideas

8/13/2019 Schwarz, Roberto - Misplaced Ideas

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MISPLACED IDEAS: LITERATURE ANDSOCIETY IN LATE NINETEENTH CENTURYBRAZILRoberto Sc hwa rtz

Every sc ience has p r inc ip les on which i t s sys tem i sbased. Free labor i s one of the pr inciples of Pol i t icalEconomy. Ye t i n Braz i l t he "unpo l i t i ca l and abomina-b le" fac t o f s l avery re igns .Th i s a rgumen tthe summary o f a l i be ra l pamph le t ,b y a c o n t e m p o r a r y o f M a c h a d o d e A s s i s 1 p l a c e sBrazi l outs ide the sy s te m of sc ien ce . W e fel l sh or t of therea li ty t o w h ich s c i ence r e fe r s ; we w ere r a the r an "u n -pol i t i ca l and abominable" mora l fac t . Al l th i s was ad e g r a d a t i o n , w h e n w e t h i n k t h a t s c i e n c e w a s E n -l i gh t enmen t , P rog res s , Human i ty , e t c . As fo r t he a r t s ,N a b u c o e x p r e s s e s a c o mp a r a b l e f e e l i n g w h e n h e p r o -tes ts agains t the subject of s lavery in the plays of Alen-car : " I f i t i s hor r ib le to the fo re igner , how much mored o e s it h u m i li a te t h e B r a z i l i a n " 2 O t h e r a u t h o r s o fcourse came to oppos i t e conc lus ions . S ince t he s c i enceof ec on om y an d o the r l ibera l ideo log ies d id no t co nc ernthemse lves wi th ou r r ea l i t y , t hey a re wha t i s abomina-ble , i r re levant to pol i t ical l i fe , foreign, and fool ish ." B e t t e r h a v e g oo d N e g r o e s f r o m t h e A f r i c a n c o a s t , f o rou r happ ines s and the i r s , no twi ths t and ing the Br i t on ,wi th h i s morb id ph i l an th ropy , wh ich makes h im fo rge th i s own home and a l lows h i s poor whi te b ro ther to d ief rom hunger , a s l ave wi thout a mas ter to p i ty h im; thehypocr i t i ca l and s tup id Br i ton , who weeps over theThis is the f irst in a series of translat ions to be sponsored by specialgrants f rom the Benjam in Ne l so n M emor ia l Foun dat ion . The Braz il -ian original i s fou nd as C hap ter 1 of the auth or'sAo vencedor asbatatas (S ao Paulo: Du as Cid ad es , 1977) . It has be en trans lated b yEdmund Lei tes and the author .


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des t iny o f our happy s l ave and thus exposes h imse l f t ot he r i d i cu l e o f t r ue ph i l an t h ropy . " 3These au thors , each in h i s own way , r e f l ec t t he d i s -par i ty between the s lave socie ty of Brazi l and the pr in-c ip l es o f E ur op ea n l ibe ra l ism . Sham ing som e, i rr i ta t ingo t h e r s w h o i n s i s t o n t h e i r h y p o c r i s y , t h e s e p r i n -c i p l e s i n wh i ch ne i t he r one no r t he o t he r o f t heoppos i ng pa r t i e s can r ecogn i ze B raz i l are t he un -avo i dab l e f r a m e of r e f e r en ce fo r ev e ry bo dy . I n s um , an

ideologica l comedy i s se t up ,different from the Euro-pean. O f c o u r s e ,freel abor , equa l i ty be fo re the law an d ,more genera l ly , un iversa l i sm were a l so an ideo logy inE u r o p e ; b u t t h e r e t h e y c o r r e s p o n d e d t o a p p e a r a n c e sand h id the es se n t i a l the exp lo i t a t ion o f l abo r . A m on gu s , the sam e idea s wo uld be fa l s e in a d i f fe ren t se ns e , soto speak, in an or ig inal way. The Declara t ion of theRights of Man, for ins tance , t ranscr ibed in par t in theBrazi l ian Const i tut ion of 1824, s ince i t did not evenco r r e s pond t o appea rances , cou l d no t dece i ve , and i n -deed cas t the ins t i tu t ion of s lavery in to a sharper l ight . 4This p ro fes sed un iversa l i t y o f p r inc ip l es th rows thesame sharp l ight on the genera l prac t ice ofavor andt rans fo rms i t i n to scanda l . Under these cond i t ions ,wha t was the va lue o f t he g rand bourgeo i s abs t rac t ionstha t we used so o f t en? They d idn ' t desc r ibe l i f ebutideas do not l ive by that alone. Thinking in a s imilard i r ec t i on , S e rg i o B ua rque r em arks : "B y b r i ng i ng f romdis tant l ands our forms of l i fe , our ins t i tu t ions , and ourvis ion of th e wo rld an d by s t r ivin g to m ain tain all tha t inan env i ronm en t s o m e t i m e s un fav o ra b l e and hos t i le , wewere ex i l e s i n ou r own l and . " 5 Th i s inadequacy in ourth inkin g , no ac cid en t as we shall see , w as in fac t con t in-ua ll y p r e s en t , im p regna t ing and r end e r i ng aw kw ard t heideologica l li fe of the S eco nd Re ign, ev en d ow n to it ssmal l es t de t a i l . Somet imes in f l a t ed , somet imes t r iv i a l ,very se ldom on the r ight note , the l i t e rary prose of thet ime i s one of the many wi tnesses of th i s fac t .

Al though the causes of th i s s ta te of affairsa r e com -


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35monplaces o f our h i s to r iography , t he i r cu l tu ra l e f fec t sha ve be en insuf f i c ien t ly s tud ied . A s is w e l l -know n, w ew ere an agra r i an and indep en de n t cou n t r y , d iv ided in tol a t i fund ia , whose p roduc t iv i ty depended on the onehand on s lave labor and on the o ther on a fore ign mar-ke t . The pecu l i a r i t i e s we have a l ready ment ioned a r i sem ore o r l e s s d i rec t ly f ro m th i s . Fo r ins t an ce , bou rgeo i seconomic th inkingthe pr ior i ty of prof i t wi th a l l i t ssoc ia l impl i ca t ionswas inev i t ab le fo r us , s ince i tp r eva i l ed i n i n t e rna t i ona l t r ade , t oward wh i ch ou reconomy was d i rec t ed . The cons tan t p rac t i ce o f sucht rade taught th i s way of thought to more than a few.Moreover , we had become independen t no t l ong ago inthe name of F rench , Eng l i sh and Amer ican l ibe ra lideas , which were therefore par t of our na t ional iden-t i ty . On the o ther hand, wi th equal necess i ty , th i sideologica l ensemble had to be a t war wi th s lavery andi t s de fenders and ye t l i ve wi th them. 6 In the realm ofbel ief , the incompat ib i l i ty be tween s lavery and l iber -al ism is cle ar , as w e h av e see n. B ut at the pra ct ic al leveli t could a l so be fe l t . Inasmuch as he was proper ty , as lave could be sold, but not f i red. In this respect , thef r ee worke r gave m ore f r eedom t o h i s em p l oye r , andimmobi l ized less capi ta l . This i s one reason, amongothers , why s lavery se t l imi t s to the ra t ional iza t ion ofp roduc t ion . Comment ing on wha t he saw a t a f a rm, at ravel ler wrote : " there i s no specia l iza t ion of l aborbe ca us e they try to m ak e eco no m ic use of t he i r h a n d s . "A f te r quo t ing th i s pa ssag e , F . H . C ard os o rem ark s tha the re " e c o n o m i c " do es no t s t and fo r r educ i ng w ork to am in im um , bu t fo r s t r e t ch ing it t o a max im um am ou nt o ft ime. Work had to be made to f i l l and discipl ine the dayof the s lave . In sh or t , the op po s i te of w hat wa s m od er n .Based on v io lence and mi l i t a ry d i sc ip l ine , s lave pro-duc t ion cou ld not be orde red ar ou nd the idea of ef f i -c i e n c y . 7 The ra t iona l s tudy and con t inua l modern iza -t ion of the pro ce sse s of pr od uc t io n , w i th all the pres t igethat went wi th the revolu t ion they were caus ing in


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Europe , made no sense in Braz i l . To make th ings morecomplex , the s l ave l a t i fund ium had been an en te rp r i seof commerc ia l cap i ta l f rom the very beg inning , andth er ef or e prof i t had a lw ays be en i ts p iv o t . So th a t , up tothe t ime when s l ave l abor became l e ss p ro f i t ab le thanw a g e l a b o r , t h e " u n c u l t i v a t e d a n d a b o m i n a b l e "s laveowners who sough t p ro f i t were in f ac t more tho r -ough ly cap i t a l i s t i c than ou r de fender s o f Adam Smi th ,a s cap i t a l i sm fo r the l a t t e r mean t on ly f r eedom. Inshor t , the l ines of in te l lec tua l l i fe were bound to behopeless ly en tangled . In mat te rs o f ra t iona l i ty , ro leswe r e sh u f f l e d : e c o n o m ic s c i e n c e b e c a m e f a n t a sy a n dmora l i ty , obscu ran t i sm equa l l ed r ea l i sm and r e spons i -b i l i ty , t echn ica l cons ide ra t ions were no t p rac t i ca l , anda l t ru ism soug ht to b r ing ab ou t the exp lo i ta t ion of labo r ,e tc . And, more genera l ly , in the absence of the po in t o fv iew o f the s l aves , who were no t o rgan ized , the con-f r o n t a t i o n b e tw e e n h u m a n i ty a n d i n h u m a n i ty , in w h ic hno dou bt th er e w as a qu es t io n of ju s t ic e , en de d u p in am o r e e a r t h b o u n d wa y a s a c o n f l ic t b e tw e e n tw o m o d e so f inves tmen t . Of cour se , one o f the pa r t i e s found them ore sp i r itua l ve r s ion o f th is opp os i t ion m ore su i t ab le . 8Chal lenged a t eve ry tu rn by s l ave ry , the l ibe ra lideo logythe ideo logy o f the newly emanc ipa ted na -t ions o f Amer icawas de ra i l ed . I t wou ld be easy tod e d u c e t h e r e s u l t i n g i n c o n g r u i t i e s m a n y o f w h i c hs t i r red the mind and consc ience of n ine teen th-cen turyBraz i l . However , they r emained odd ly inessen t i a l . Thetest of real i ty did not seem important . I t was as i f thecoherence and genera l i ty o f thought was of l i t t le im-por tance , o r ra ther as i f the c r i te r ia by which cu l tu rew as jud ge d w ere d i f f e re n t bu t in w ha t w ay? By i t sshee r p resence , s l ave ry r evea led the inadequacy o f l ib -era l ideas ; ye t the i r dynamics cannot be whol ly cap-tu red by th i s desc r ip t ion . S lave ry was indeed the bas icproduct ive re la t ionsh ip , and ye t i t was no t the soc ia lre la t ion direct ly a t work in ideological l i fe . The key laye ls ew he re . T o find i t , w e m us t tak e up aga in the co un t ry


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37as a who le . To schemat ize , we can say tha t co lon iza -t ion , based on the mon opo ly o f the l and , p ro du ce d th reec la sses o f popu la t ion : the p ropr ie to r o f the l a t in fun -d iu m , t h e s l a v e , a n d t h e " f r e e m a n , " wh o wa s i n f a c tdependen t . Be tween the f i r s t two , the r e l a t ion i s c l ea r .Our argument wil l h inge on the s i tuat ion of the th ird .Ne i t h e r p r o p r i e to r , n o r p r o l e t a r i a n , t h e f r e e m a n ' s a c -ces s to soc ia l l i fe and i t s be ne f i t s de pe nd ed , in on e w ayo r a n o th e r , o n t h e f a v o r o f a " b ig m a n . " 9 The ca r i ca -t u r e of t hi s " f r e e m a n " w a sheagregado. 10 F a v o r w a s ,the re fo re , the r e l a t ionsh ip by wh ich the c la ss o f f r eemen reproduced i t se l f , a re la t ionsh ip in which the o thermember was the proper t ied c lass . The f ie ld of ideo logi -cal l i fe is formed by these two classes , and i t i s gov-e r n e d , t h e r e f o r e , b y t h i s r e l a t i o n sh ip . 1 1 T h u s , u n d e r at h o u sa n d f o r m s a n d n a m e s , f a v o r f o r m e d a n d f l a v o r e dthe whole of the na t iona l l i fe , except ing a lways thebas ic p roduc t ive r e la t ionsh ip wh ich was secu red byf o r c e . Fa v o r wa s p r e se n t e v e r y wh e r e , c o m b in in g i t s e l fwi th more or less ease to adminis t ra t ion , po l i t ics , in -dus t ry , commerce , the l i fe o f the c i ty , the cour t , and soon . Even p ro fess ions , such a s med ic ine , o r fo rms o fsk i l led labor , such as the pr in t ing t rade , which inE uro pe w ere on the wh o le f r e e o f f a v or , w ere amo ng u sgoverned by i t . As the p ro fess iona l depended on f avorto exce rc i se h i s p ro fess ion , so the sma l l p rop r ie to r de -pended on i t fo r the secur i ty of h is p roper ty , and thepub l i c se rvan t fo r h i s pos i t ion . Fa vo r wa s ou r quas i -un ive r sa l soc ia l med ia t ionand be ing more appea l ingthan s l ave ry , the o the r r e l a t ionsh ip inhe r i t ed f rom co -lon ia l t imes , i t i s unders tandable tha t our wr i te r s basedthe i r in te rpre ta t ion of Braz i l upon i t , thereby unwi t -t ing ly d isguis ing the v io lence tha t had a lways been es-sen t ia l to the sphere of p roduct ion .

Slavery d isavows l ibera l ideas ; bu t favor , more in -s id ious ly , u ses the m , fo r i ts ow n p ur po se s , o r ig ina ting anew ideo log ica l pa t t e rn . The e lemen t o f a rb i t r a r iness ,the f lu id p lay o f p re fe rences to wh ich f avor sub jec t s


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38w ha tev er it to uc he s , can no t be fu l ly ra t ion a l ized . InEurope , when a t t ack ing such i r r a t i ona l i t i e s , un ive r -sal i sm had i t s a im on feudal pr iv i lege. In opposing th is ,bourgeois c iv i l i za t ion had pos tu la ted the au tonomy ofthe individual , universal i ty of law, cul t ivat ion for i t sown sake , a day ' s pay for a day ' s work , the d ign i ty o fl abo r , e t c . , aga ins t t he p re roga t ives o f t he AncienRegime. F av o r in tu rn imp l ies the de pe nd en cy of theind iv idua l , the excep t ion to the ru le , o rnamenta l cu l -tu re , a rb i t ra ry pay and the serv i l i ty o f l abor . However ,Braz i l was no t to Europe as feudal i sm was to cap i -t a l ism . On the con t ra r y , w e w ere a fun c t io n o f Eu ro -pean cap i t a l i sm, and moreover , had neve r been f euda l ,fo r our co lon iza t ion was the deed of commerc ia l cap i -t a l . In f ace o f t he European ach i evemen t , no Braz i l i ancould have had the idea nor the s t rength to be, le t ussay, the Kant of favor , g iving universal i ty to th is socialf o r m . 1 2 In t h i s con f ron t a t i on , t he two p r inc ip l e s werenot of equal s t rength: in the sphere of reasoning, pr inci -p l e s t he European bourgeo i s i e had deve loped aga ins ta rb i t ra r iness and s lavery were eager ly adopted ; whi le inpract ice , sus ta ined by the real i t ies of social l i fe , favorcont inual ly reasser ted i t se l f , wi th a l l the feel ings andnot ions that went wi th i t . The same is t rue of ins t i tu-t i ons , bu rea uc rac y and ju s t i ce , fo r exa m ple , wh ich al-t h o u g h r u l e d b y p a t r o n a g e a f f i r me d t h e f o r ms a n dtheo r i e s o f m od ern bourge o i s s t a t e . Bes ides t he ex pec t -a b l e d e b a t e s , t h e r e f o r e , t h i s a n t a g o n i s m p r o d u c e d as tab le coex is tence be tween the two v iews which i s o fin t e res t t o s tud y .Once the European ideas and motivestook hold, they could serve, and very often did, as ajustification, nominally objective, for what was un-avoidably arbitrary in the practice of avor. R ea l as itwas , the an tagonism vanished in to th in a i r , and theoppo s ing pos i t i ons w a lked h and in hand . The e f fec t s o fth i s d i sp l acemen t o f func t ion were many , and deep lytou ch ed our l i t e ra ture as we will see . L ibe ra l i sm , wh ichhad been an i deo logy we l l -g rounded in appea rances ,


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39ca m e to s tan d for the con sc io us de s i re to pa r t ic ip a te in ar ea l i ty tha t appea rances d id no t sus ta in . When he ju s -t if ie d a r b i t r a r in e s s th r o u g h so m e " r a t i o n a l " r e a s o n , t h ebenef ic ia ry consc ious ly exa l ted h imsel f and h is bene-fac tor , who, in tu rn , had no mot ive to cont rad ic t h im,ra t iona l i ty be ing the h ighe s t va lue of the m od ern w or ld .U nd er these con d i t ion s , w ho wou ld be l ive the ju s t i f i ca -t ion? To wha t appea rance d id i t co r r e spond? Bu t th i swas no t a p rob lem, fo r wha t was impor tan t was thec o m m e n d a b l e i n t e n t i o n wh ic h g o v e r n e d b o th p a t r o n -age and g ra t i tude . The symbol ic compensa t ion wasperhaps a l i t t le ou t o f tune , bu t no t ungra te fu l . Or , wem ight sa y, th is use of jus t i f icat io n wa s out of h ar m on yw ith l ibera l i sm , bu t qu i te in tun e wi th fa vo r , w hich w as ,of co ur se , a ll im po r ta n t . An d ho w be t te r to g ive lus te r toind iv idua l s and to the soc ie ty they e s tab l i sh , thanthrou gh t he m os t i l lus t r ious idea s of the i r t ime , wh ich inth i s cas e w ere Eu ro pe an ? In th i s co n t ex t , ideo log ies donot descr ibe rea l i ty , no t even fa lse ly , and they do no tm ov e ac co rd in g to a law of the i r ow n; w e shal l th er ef or eca l l them " ideo log ies o f the second degree . " The i r l awof m ov em en t i s a d i f fe ren t on e , no t the one the y na m e; ithonor s p res t ige , r a the r than cogn i t ive and sys temat icambi t ions . The r easons fo r th i s were no sec re t : thein e v i t a b le " su p e r io r i t y " o f E u r o p e , an d t h e d e m a n d s ofthe moment of express ion , o f se l f -es teem and fan tasy ,which a re essen t ia l to favor . In th is way , as we havesa id before , the tes t o f rea l i ty and coherence d id no tseem to be dec i s ive , no twi ths tand ing i t s con t inuouspresence a s a r equ i r emen t , r eca l l ed o r fo rgo t t en ac -c o r d in g t o c i r c u m s t a n c e s . T h u s , o n e c o u ld m e th o d i -c a ll y c al l d e p e n d e n c e i n d e p e n d e n c e , c a p r i c io u s n e s su t i l i ty , except ions un iversa l i ty , k insh ip mer i t , p r iv i legeequal i ty , and so on . Having a p lace in the prac t ice ofwhat , in p r inc ip le , i t should c r i t ic ize , l ibera l i sm causedthough t to lo se i t s foo t ing . Le t u s no t fo rge t , however ,the complex i ty o f th i s s t ep : inasmuch as they becameprepos te rous , these ideas ceased to mis lead .


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This was no t the on ly way in which favor and l iber -a l i sm cou ld mee t . However , i t was the mos t complex ,embrac ing , and s t r ik ing o f the poss ib le combina t ions ,and in our ideo logica l c l imate , dec is ive . For the mo-ment , le t us cons ider bu t a few aspec ts o f it. W e h a v es e e n t h a t i n t h i s c o m b i n a t i o n , t h e i d e a s o f t h ebourgeo i s i e , ideas whose sobe r g randeur goes back tothe c ivic and ra t ional spir i t of the Enl ightenment , takeon the func t ion of p rovid ing . . . o rnament and ar i s to -cra t ic s ty le ; they a t tes t and ce lebra te par t ic ipa t ion in amajes t ic sphere , in th is case the European wor ld in theprocess of . . . industr ia l izat ion. There could not be as t r anger r e l a t ion be tween name and func t ion . The h i s -to r ica l novel ty l ies no t in the ornamenta l charac te r o fknowledge and cu l tu re , par t o f the co lon ia l and Iber iant r ad i t ion , bu t in the ex t r ao rd ina ry d i s sonance c rea tedw hen " m o d e r n " cu l tu re is u sed to th i s pu rp os e . I s it a simprac t ica l as a t r inke t? Or does i t confer d is t inc t ionupon those who wear i t? Could i t be our panacea?Sho uld it sh am e us be fo re the eye s of the w or ld ? W hat i sfor sure is that in the comings and goings of argumentand in te res t , a ll the se as pe c ts w ould s ho w u p , so tha t inthe minds of the more a t ten t ive they were inex t r icab lyl inked and m ixe d. Ideolog ical li fe de gra de d and el-eva ted i t s par t ic ipan ts a l l a t once , and th is was of tenw el l -know n . Fo r th i s r ea so n , it w as an uns tab le com bi -na t ion which could eas i ly degenera te in to the most b i t -ter and host i le cr i t ic ism. In order to maintain i tse lf , i tneed ed a pe rm an en t com pl ic i ty , a com pl ic i ty wh ich theprac t ice of fa vo r ten ded to gu ara n te e . At the mo m en t ofthe exchange of favors , wi th i t s aspec t o f mutua l per -sonal recogni t ion, i t was not in the in terest of e i therpa r ty to denounce the o the r , a l though bo th had theknow ledge to do so . Th i s ev e r - r en ew ed com pl ic i ty ha d ,moreover , heavy impl ica t ions of c lass : in the Braz i l ianc o n t e x t , f a v o r a s su r e d b o th p a r t i e s , e sp e c i a l l y t h eweaker one , tha t ne i ther was a s lave . Even the mostmise rab le o f those g iven f avor saw h i s f r eedom recog-


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41nized in th is ac t . All t h i s t r a ns fo rm ed the se ex ch an ge s ,even if ve ry m od es t , in to a ce re m on y con fe r r ing soc ia lsuper ior i ty , and therefore valued in i t se l f . Bal las ted bythe inf in i te duress and degradat ion of s lavery which i ts eeks to con ju re away , t h i s r ecogn i t ion sus t a ins anex t r ao rd i na ry com pl i c i t y , m ade even wor s e by t heado p t ion o f the bo urg eo i s voc ab u la r y o f equ a l i ty , m er i t ,l abor and reason . Machado de Ass i s wi l l be the mas te rof these complexi t ies . Yet there i s another s ide to i t .Immersed as we are , s t i l l today, in the universe ofcapi ta l , which d id not t ake c lass ica l form in Brazi l , wetend to see th i s combina t ion as be ing on ly d i sadvan-tage . I t may wel l not have had any advantage , but inord er to ap pre c ia t e i t in i ts co m ple x i ty , w e shou ld ke epin mind tha t t he ideas o f t he European bourgeo i s i e ,in i t i a l ly a imed a t pr iv i lege , had become apologet ic f rom1848 on: the w av e of socia l s t ruggles in Eu ro p e sho w edt ha t un i ve r s a li ty h id c l a s s a n t ag on i s m s . 1 3 T h e r e f o r e , t ocatch i t s pecul iar tone , we must cons ider tha t our im-p ro pe r d i s cou r s e was ho l low even when u s ed p rop e r l y .In l i t e r a tu re , as w e shall see , som eth ing s ingu lar re su l t s ,an emp ty ing ou t o f w ha t is a l rea dy ho l low . H er e aga in ,Machado wi l l be the mas te r .

In sh or t , if w e ins i s t up on the ex ten t to w hich s lav eryand fa v o r tw is ted the ide as of the t im es , it i s no t in or de rto d i sm iss the m , bu t t o de sc r ib e themqua t w i s t e d n o tin l i ne wi th the i r own demands . They a re recogn izab lyBraz i l i an in the i r pecu l i a r d i s to r t ion . Hence , s t epp ingback f rom the search for causes , we are s t i l l l e f t wi ththat exper ience of incongrui ty which was our poin t ofdepa r t u r e : t he i m pres s i on t ha t B raz i l g i ves o f i l l -a s s o r t e d n e s s u n m a n a g e a b l e c o n t r a s t s , d i s p r o -p o r t i o n s , n o n s e n s e , a n a c h r o n i s m s , o u t r a g e o u s c o m -promises and the l i kethe so r t o f combina t ion whichthe a r t o f Braz i l i an Modern i sm, and l a t e r on , Trop-ica l i sm, as wel l as pol i t i ca l economy, have taught us toa p p r e c i a t e . 1 4 Exam pl es abound . Le t u s l ook a t s om e ,no t fo r t he purpose o f ana lys i s bu t t o sugges t t he


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42ubiqui ty of wha t we have desc r ibed and the var ia t ion ofwhich i t i s capable . In the magaz ines of the t ime , thes ta tement of purpose in the f i r s t i s sue , whe ther se r iousor banter ing, is wr i t ten for bass and fa lse t to: f i rs t , thesa lv i fi c pu rp os e o f the p re ss i s a s se r t ed , in the co m ba t -i v e t r a d i t i o n o f t h e E n l i g h t e n m e n t ; t h e g r e a t s e c tfounded by Gutenbe rg ca l l s fo r ac t ion in the f ace o find i f f e r enc e ; a t the he igh t s , you th an d the con do r , r e -j ec t ing the pas t and i t s p r e jud ice s , look toward thefu tu re , wh i l e the pur i fy ing to r ch o f the p re ss ban i shest h e d a r k n e s s o r c o r r u p t i o n . S e c o n d , a c c o m m o d a t i n gt h e m s e l v e s t o c i r c u m s t a n c e s , t h e m a g a z i n e s d e c l a r ethe i r good-na tu re , the i r e age rness to "p rov ide a l l c l a s -ses , and par t icu la r ly hones t fami l ies , a means of de -l i g h t fu l i n s t r u c t i o n a n d a g r e e a b l e r e c r e a t i o n . " T h esa lv i f ic in ten t ion jo ins wi th puzz les , ca l l s for the uni tyof a ll Braz i l ians , dres s pa t te rn s , prac t ica l h ints and seria ln o v e l s . 1 5 The l ight ve rse tha t se rves as the ep igraph toThe Marmot in Court is an un in t en de d ca r ic a tu re of th iss e q u e n c e : " H e r e i s t h e m a r m o t / I n h i s v a r i e t y / H e i seve r - l iked /And by a ll /He speak s the t ru th /Sa ys wh a t hef e e l s / L o v e s a n d r e s p e c t s / E v e r y o n e . " I f , in a n o t h e rrea lm, we scrape our wal ls a l i t t le , we f ind the samec o n j u n c t i o n : " T h e c h a n g e i n a r c h i t e c t u r e w a s s u p e r f i -c i a l . European wa l lpape r was pas ted o r hung on s l ave -bui l t wa l l s of ea r th , or pa in t ings were hung, in order toc rea te the i l lus ion of modern in te r iors , l ike those ofindus t r i a l Europe . In some ca se s , the p re tense r eachedthe absurd : The pa in t ing o f Greco-Roman a rch i t ec tu ra lm o t i f s p i l a s t e r s , a r c h i t r a v e s , c o l o n n a d e s , f r i e z e s ,e t c . , o f t en done to dece ive , sugges ted a neoc la ss i c se t -t ing tha t could never have been bui l t wi th the tech-niques and mate r ia l s ava i lab le in Braz i l . In o ther cases ,w ind ow s we re pa in ted on the wal l s wi th v iew s of Rio deJane i ro o r Europe , sugges t ing an ex te r io r wor ld qu i t ed is tan t f rom the rea l one of s lave quar te r s and s lavel a b o r . " 1 6 Th i s t ex t de sc r ibe s ru ra l homes in the P rov-ince of Sao Paulo in the second ha l f of the n ine teenth


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43c e n t u r y . A s f o r t h e C o u r t : " H e r e c h a n g e s a n s w e r e dnew h ab i t s , which inc luded the use o f ob jec t s o f g rea t e rr e f i nem en t crys t a l , ch i na , and po rce l a i nand i n t headop t ion o f more fo rmal behav io r , a s i n the se rv ing o fmea l s . At the same t ime these a rch i t ec tu ra l changesgave an appearance o f ve rac i ty to the whole , whicht r ied to re pr od uc e the l if e o f E ur op ea n ho m es . T hesocia l s t ra ta tha t benef i t t ed the most f rom a s lave-sys t em exc lus ive ly based on agr i cu l tu ra l p roduc t ion ,a t tempted to crea te an i l lus ion for the i r own use of anambience wi th u rban and European charac te r i s t i c s . . .t hus every th ing o r a lmos t every th ing had to be im-p o r t e d . ' ' 1 7 Th i s co m ed y lives in the rem ark ab le ope n ingc h a p t e r s o fQuincas Borba. U n d e r t h e p r e s s u r e o fop i n i on , R ub i ao , a r ecen t he i r , m us t exchange h i sCreo le s l ave fo r a F rench cook and a Span i sh se rvan t ,w i th w ho m h e i s not a t ea se . B es id es gold and s i lver , th emeta l s tha t speak to h i s hear t , he now buys s ta tuet tes ofb r o n z e a s w e l l a F a u s t a n d a M e p h i s t o p h e l e s . Agraver mat ter , but equal ly under the impr in t of thet imes , i s the wording of our hymn to the Republ ic ,writ ten in 1890 by a poet of thedecadence. I t w asp rog re s s i ve and a l t oge t he r unc onv i nc i ng . "W e can no tbel ieve tha t of yore / s laves could have exis ted in ourn o b l e l a n d . " ( " O f y o r e " w a s b u t t w o y e a r s b e f o r e ,abi l i t ion occurr ing in 1888.) A declarat ion of the revo-l u t i ona ry gove rnm en t o f P e rnam buco m ade m any yea r sear l ier (1817) , sounds jus t as of f , but for oppos i te rea-s ons : "P a t r i o t s , you r p rope r t i e s , even t hos e m os t r e -pug nan t to the idea l s o f j u s t i c e , will be he ld s a c r e d . " 1 8I t r e fe r s t o rumors o f emanc ipa t ion , which had to beden ied to rea ssu re the ow ne rs . Th e l if e o f M ac ha do deAssis i s an example as wel l ; in i t , the mil i tant journal is t( en t hus i a s t i c abou t " t he work i ngm an ' s i n t e l l i gence" ) ,the au thor o f a humorous co lumn and o f se r ious qua-t ra ins ( the l a t t e r commemora t ing the wedd ing o f theimper ia l pr incesses) , and the Cheval ier of the Order oft he R o s e fo l l ow one ano t h e r in r ap id s u c ce s s i o n . 1 9


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44Agains t a l l th is Sylvio Romero wi l l take the field. "I t i snecessary to l ay the foundat ions of a na t iona l sp i r i t ,consc ious of i t s mer i t s and defec t s , o f i t s s t reng th andi ts inf i rmi t ies and not concoct a pas t iche, a k ind ofs tu f fed puppet , which on ly serves to shame us in theeyes of the fo re igner . To ach ieve th i s desideratum,there i s bu t one reg ime: we mus t immerse ourse lves inthe l i fe-giving current of natural i s t ic and monis t ic ideasw h i c h a r e t r a n s f o r mi n g t h e o l d w o r l d . " 2 0 F r o m a f a r ,th i s subs t i tu t ion of one pas t i che for ano ther i s so obvi -ous i t makes us smi le . But i t i s a lso dramat ic , s ince i tpo in t s ou t to w hat ex te n t our des i re fo r au th en t ic i ty h adto express i t se l f in an a l ien language. The romant icpas t i che was on ly superseded by another , th i s t ime thena tura l i s t i c . In sum, in the magazines , in behavior , inthe set t ing of the home, in nat ional symbols , in revo-lu t ionary proc lamat ions , in theory and in every th inge l s e , a l w a y s t h e s a m e " h a r l e q u i n " c o m p o s i t i o n , t o t a k eup the t e rm o f Mar io de Andrade : t he d i s sonance be -t w e e n r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s , a n d w h a t , u p o n c o n s i d e r a t i o n ,we know to be the i r con tex t .

T he com bina t ion of l a t i fundia and un f re e l ab or , g ivendurab i l ity by i ts im po r tan t ro le in the in te rna t iona l m ar-ket , and la ter , by in ternal pol i t ics , s tood f i rm throughColony , Empero r s and Regenc i es , t h rough Abo l i t i on ,the Fi rs t Republ ic , and even now i s a mat te r o f deba tea n d b u l l e t s . 2 1 Our ideological l i fe , no less determinedby na t iona l dependency , d id vary : a t a d i s tance , i t fo l -lowed in the s teps of Europe. (Let us point out that i t i son ly the ideo logy of ind ep en de nc e w hich tu rn s th i s in toa prob lem; foo l i sh ly when i t ins i s t s on an imposs ib lecu l tu ra l au tonomy; p ro found ly , when i t r e f l ec t s uponwhat was t ru ly poss ib le . ) The t enac i ty o f the bas icsocial re la t ionships and the ideological volat i l i ty of the"e l i t e " were bo th a pa r t o f t he dynamics o f Cap i t a l i smas an in ternat ional sys tem, the par t that i t was ours tol ive ou t . The latifundia l i t t l e changed , saw the baroque ,neoc l as s i c , roman t i c , na tu ra l i s t , and modern i s t cu l -


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45t u res pass by , cu l tu res which in Europe re f l ec t ed im-mense t r ans fo rmat ions in i t s soc ia l o rder . We cou ldwel l suppose tha t here they would lose the i r poin t ,which in par t d id occur . But th i s loss to which we werecondemned by the work ing o f the in t e rna t iona l sys t emof cap i t a l i sm condemned the work ing o f tha t ve ry sys -tem i t se l f . W e say th i s to indica te it s m ore - tha n-n at ion als igni f icance .

Al l th i s was no secre t , a l though not worked out theo-re t ica l ly . For the ar t s , as opposed to theory , makingsom ethin g of it w as eas ier s ince th er e w as a lw ay s a w ayt o ado re , quo t e , ape , s ack , adap t o r devou r t he s e m an-ners and fashions , so tha t they would ref lec t , in the i rde fec t i venes s , a cu l t u r a l em bar r a s s m en t i n wh i ch wewould recogn ize ou t se lves . Le t us go back fo r a mo-ment . Libera l ideas could not be put in to prac t ice , andye t they cou ld no t be d i sca rde d . T he y be ca m e a par t o f aspec ia l p rac t i ca l s i t ua t ion , which would reproduce i t -se l f and no t l eave them unchanged . There fo re , i t doesnot he lp to ins i s t on the i r obv iou s fa l se ho o d. W e shou ldra ther observe the i r dynamics , o f which th i s f a l sehoodwas a t rue componen t . Before these ideas , Braz i l , t heou t p os t o f s l ave ry , w as a s h am ed for t he s e were t a kento be ideas o f t he t imeand resen t fu l , fo r t hey se rvedno purpose . Bu t they were a l so adop ted wi th p r ide , i nan o rnamenta l ve in , a s a p roof o f modern i ty and d i s -t inc t ion . A nd , o f co ur se , t hey w er e revo lu t ionary w he nput in the serv ice of Abol i t ionism. Subordinate to thedemands of p lace , and not los ing the i r or ig inal c la ims ,they c i rc l ed , governed by a pecu l i a r ru l e whose mer i t sand fau l t s , am bigu i t ie s and de cep t ion s w ere pecu l i a r aswel l . To kno w B raz il w as to kn ow the se d i sp lace m en t s ,exp er i enc ed and p rac t i ced by ev er yo ne as a so r t o f f a t e ,fo r wh i ch , howeve r , t he r e was no p rope r nam e , s i ncethe improper use o f names was par t o f i t s na tu re .Widely fe l t to be a defec t , wel l -known but l i t t l e re-f l ec t ed upon , t h i s sys t em of d i sp lacement ce r t a in ly d idde ba se ideologica l l ife an d d imin ished th e ch an ce s fo r


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46genu ine t hough t . However , i t made fo r a skep t i c i sm inmat te rs o f ideo logy which could be bo th thorough andef for t l ess , and compat ib le , bes ides , wi th a good dea l o fta lk . Pus he d a b i t fu r th er , it will p r od uc e the as ton i sh ingfo rce o f Machado de Ass i s ' v i s ion . Now, t he g round o fth is skept ic ism surely l ies not in the ref lect ive explora-t ion of the l imits of l iberal thought . I t rather l ies in anin tu i t ive s ta r t ing po in t , which spared us th i s e f for t .Embedded in a sys tem they d id no t descr ibe , even inappea rance , t he i deas o f t he bourgeo i s i e s aw eve rydayl i fe inva l ida te the i r p re tens ion to un iversa l i ty f rom thevery beg inn ing . I f they were accep ted , they were so forreasons t hey themse lves cou ld no t accep t . In s t ead o ffun c t ion ing as the hor iz on of tho ug ht , they ap pe are d ona vas t e r background wh ich r endered them re l a t i ve : t heback -and- fo r th o f a rb i t r a r ines s and f avo r . The g roundof i t s c la ims to un iversa l i ty was shaken . Thus , what inEurope was a g rea t c r i t i ca l fea t , cou ld among us beo r d i n a r y i n c r e d u l i t y . U t i l i t a r i a n i s m , e g o i s m , f o r -mal i sm, and the l ike , were c lo thes to be worn on occa-s ion , pe rhaps f a sh ionab le , bu t uncomfor t ab ly t i gh t .Thus we see tha t th i s wor ld i s o f consequence to thehis tory of cul ture: when in i t s pecul iar orbi t , the mostpres t ig ious ideo logy of the Occiden t was bound to cu tthe lud icrous f igure o f mania among manias . In suchwise , our na t iona l oddi t i es became wor ld-h i s to r ica l .Pe rhap s th i s is com pa rab l e t o w ha t hap pen ed in R uss i anl i t e ra tu re . Faced wi th t he l a t t e r , even the g rea t e s tnovel s o f the French rea l i sm seem na ive . And why? Inspi te of thei r c la ims to universal i ty , the psychology ofra t iona l ego ism and the e th ics o f Enl igh tenment ap-pea red i n t he Russ i an Empi re a s a " fo re ign" i deo logy ,and therefore , a loca l i zed and re la t ive one . Sus ta inedb y it s h i s t o r i c a l b a c k w a r d n e s s , R u s s i a f o r c e d t h ebourgeois novel to face a more complex rea l i ty . Thecomic f i gu re o f t he Wes t e rn i ze r , F rancoph i l e o r Ger -m ano phi le ( f requ en t ly un de r an a l legor ica l o r r id icu lou sname), the ideologies of progress , of l iberal i sm, of rea-


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47so n, a ll the se w ere w ay s of br inging in to the for eg ro un dthe modern iza t ion tha t came wi th Cap i t a l . These en-l ig h t e n e d m e n p r o v e d t h e m s e l v e s t o b e l u n a t i c s ,th i eves , oppor tun i s t s , men c rue l , va in and paras i t i ca l .The sys tem of ambigui t ies growing out of the local useof bourgeois ideasone of the keys to the Russ iannovelis not unl ike the one we descr ibed for Brazi l .The socia l reasons for th i s s imi lar i ty are c lear . In Rus-s ia , too, modernizat ion would lose i t sel f in the inf ini teextent of terr i tory and of social iner t ia , and would clashwi th ser fdom or i t s ves t igesa c lash many fe l t as anat ional shame, a l though i t gave o thers the s tandard bywhich to measure the madness of the indiv idual i sm andp rog re s s om an i a t ha t t he Occ i den t im pos ed and i m pos eson the wor ld . The e x t r em e fo rm of th is co nf r on ta t io n , inwhich p rog ress is a d i sas t e r and ba ck w ar dn es s a sha m e,is one of the spr ings of R uss ia n l i t e ra tu re . W ha tev er thed i f fe ren ce in s t a tu re , t he re is in M ac ha do for the rea -s o n s t h a t I h a v e p o i n t e d o u t s o m e t h i n g s i m i l a r ,s om e t h i ng o f Gogo l , Dos t o i evs ky , Goncha rov , andC h e k h o v , 2 2 L e t us say , t hen , t ha t t he ve ry de ba se m en tof thought among us , of which we were so b i t t e r lyaware , and wh i ch t oday s t i f l e s t he s t uden t o f ou rn i ne t een t h cen t u ry , was a s o r e s po t o f t he wor l d -h is tor ica l process and for th i s reason a valuable c lue toi t . 2 3

In the process of reproducing i t s socia l order , Brazi luncea s ing ly a f f i rm s and rea f f i rm s E uro pe an ide as , al-ways improper ly . In the i r qual i ty of be ing improper ,they wi l l be mater ia l and a problem for l i t e ra ture . Thewri ter may wel l not know this , nor does he need to , ino rd er to us e th em . Bu t he will be off-keyunless he fe e l s ,no tes , and deve lopsor whol ly avo idsth i s aspec t .And a l though there i s an indef in i te number of so lu t ionsto the problem, v io la t ions are palpable and def in i te .Thei r non-ar t i s t i c names are ingenuousness , loquaci ty ,na r row-mindedness , ap ing , p rov inc ia l i t y , e t c . , t he spe-c i f i c an d l oca l e f f e c t s o f an a l i en a t i o n w i t h l ong


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48a rmsthe consequences o f t he l ack o f soc i a l t r anspa r -en cy , im po se d , f i r s t , by our co lon ia l s i tua t ion and la te ron by ou r dependency . As much as has been sa id , t hereader has l earned very l i t t l e about Braz i l i an h i s to r^ ,l i t e ra ry or genera l , and we have no t p laced Machado deA ssis . W hat is the n the use of w ha t has be en said so fa r?I n s t e a d o f a l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y s e t w i t h i n a s o c i a l" p a n o r a m a , " a c o n s t r u c t io n a l w a y s s u g g es ti ve a n dt rue to a cer ta in ex ten t , bu t necessar i ly vague , I havet r ied a d i f ferent solut ion. I sought to speci fy a socialmechanism in the fo rm in which i t became an in te rna land ac t i ve e l em en t o f ou r cu l tu re : t he i nescap ab lediffi-cu l ty which Braz il fo rc ed upo n i ts cu l t iva te d m en in thevery process o f i t s soc ia l reproduct ion . In o ther words ,an analys is of the ground of in te l lectual exper ience. It r ied to see in the movement of our ideas something thatmade us s ingu la r , s t a r t i ng f rom the common obse rva -t ion, a lmost a feel ing, that in Brazi l ideas were off-cen ter in re la t ion to European usage . And I p resen tedan h i s to r ica l exp lana t ion for th i s d i sp lacement , an ex-p lana t ion which brought in re la t ions of p roduct ion andparas i t i sm in Braz i l , ou r economic dependency and i t scoun te rpa r t , t he i n t e l l ec tua l hegemony o f Europe , r ev -olut ionized by capi ta l . In shor t , in order to analyse ana t iona l pecu l ia r i ty , sensed in everyday l i fe , we weredr iven to re f lec t on the co lon ia l p rocess , which wasin te rna t iona l . The cons tan t in te rchange of l ibera l i smand fav or was the loca l and o pa q ue e f f ec t o f a p lane tarym e c h a n i s m . N o w , t h e e v e r y d a y m o v e m e n t of i d e a s a n dprac t i ca l pe r spec t ives was t he obv ious and na tu ra l ma-ter ia l for l i tera ture , once the f ixed forms had los t thei rval id i ty in the ar ts . I t was , therefore , the point of de-pa r tu re fo r the nov el , even m ore so , the rea li s ti c n ove l .Thus , wha t we have desc r ibed i s t he manner i n wh ichthe movement of world his tory , in i t s crypt ic and localresu l t s , repea ted aga in and aga in , passes in to wr i t ing ,wh ich i t now de t e rmines f rom the i n s idewhethe r o rnot the wri ter knows or wi l l s i t . In o ther words , we


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49def ine d a vas t and he te r og en eo us , bu t s t ru c tu red , field ,which is an his tor ical resul t , and can be an ar t is t icorigin. While s tudying i t , we saw that i tdiffersf rom t heEuropean f i e ld , a l though us ing the same vocabu la ry .Th e re fo re , d i f f e r en ce , com par i s o n , and d i s t ance a r epar t of i t s very def in i t ion: somet imes reason i s ours ,somet imes i t i s a l ien , but i t a lways appears in an ara-b ig ious l ight . T he re sul t i s a ch em is t ry equa l ly s ingu lar ,the af f in i t ies and a nt ipa th ies of w hich w e ha ve som e-what descr ibed . I t i s only natura l tha t such a mater ia lshould propose or ig inal problems to the l i t e ra ture tha tdepends on i t . As a f inal observat ion, le t us only saythat , cont rary to what i s genera l ly thought , the mater ia lof the ar t is t turns out not to be shapeless : i t i s his tor i -ca l ly shaped and in some way regis ters the socia l proc-ess to which i t owes i t s exis tence. In shaping i t , in turn,t he wr i te r s upe r i m pos e s fo rm upo n fo rm , and t he dep t h ,fo rc e , an d com plex i ty of the ar t i s t i c resu l t s will d ep en dup on the s uc ce ss of th i s op er a t i on , of th i s re la t ion to th epr e- f orm ed m ater ia l in wh ich the energ ies of h i s to ry l i e .The match o f fo rms i s no t obv ious . And fo r one morevar ia t ion of the same theme, le t us conclude by sayingtha t ev en w hen dea l ing wi th the m os t m od es t m at t e r s ofeveryday l i fe , the subjec t mat ter of our novel i s t s hasa lways been wor ld-h is tor ica l . This they shaped as wel las they could , but i t would not have been the i r subjec t ,had they deal t wi th i t di rect ly .

University of CampinasNotes

'A . R. de To rres Band eira , A l iberdade d o trabalho e a con cor -rencia , seu efe i to , sa o prejudic ia i s a c la ss e op era ria? , inO Fu-turo, N o. IX , 1 -15-1863 . M ach ad o wa s a f requent contr ibutor tothis magazine .

2A Polemica Alencar-Nabuco, organ izat ion and introduc t ion byAfra nio Co ut in ho , T em po B ras i le iro , ed . , R . J . , 1965, p . 106.

3 D ep os i t i o n o f a com m erc ia l f irm, M. Wright & Cia . , regarding the


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5f inancia l cr i s i s of the 1850s . Ci ted by Joaquim Nabuco,Um Es-tadista do Imperio, S. P ., 1936, V o l. 1, p. 188, and again by S. B .d e H o l a n d a ,Raizes do Brasil, J. O lym pio , R. J. , 1956, p. 96.4 E . V i o tt i d a C o s t a , I n t r o d u a o a o e s t u d o d a E m a n c i p a g a opo l i t i ca , in C. G. Mota ed . ,Brasil em Perspectiva, D i f u s a oEurope'ia d o Liv ro , S. P ., 1968.

5 S. B. de Holanda, op. c i t . , p. 15.6 E . Viott i da C ost a, op. c i t .7 F . H . C a r d o s o ,Capitalismo e Escravidao, D ifu sa o Europe' ia d o

Livro, S. P., 1962, pp. 189-191 and 198.8 A s Fe l ipe de Ale nca stro remarks in an as yet unp ubl i shed wo rk ,the true nat ional quest ion of our nineteenth century was the de-fen se of the s lav etrafficin the face of En gl i sh pressu re . A qu est ionthat could not be less attract ive to intel lectual enthusiasm.

'F or a mo re com ple te di sc us s io n of the sub ject , see M aria Sy lv ia deCarva lho Franco ,Homens Livres na Ordem Escravocrata, In-st i tuto de E stu do s Bra si le iros , S. P. , 1969.

{aAgregado roughly m ean s a man of no pro perty , tota l ly dep end entupon a family with property, but st i l l not a serf .On the ideological e f fects of lat i fundia , see Chapter III of Raizesdo Brasil, A heran^a rural .

l 2 A s M ach ad o de A ss i s remarks in 1879, the external impactdetermines the direct ion of our movement; for the t ime being inour environment , the force necessary for the creat ion of newdoctr ines i s l ack in g . Cf . A nov a gera^ ao , Obra Completa,Aguilar, R. J. , 1959, Vol . I l l , pp. 826-827.

, 3 G . L u k a c s , M a r x u n d d a s P r o b l e m d e s I d e o l o g i s c h e n V e r f a l l s ,inProbleme des Realismus; Werke, V o l . 4 , L u c h t e r h a n d ,N e u w i e d .

1 4 Deal t wi th in a di f ferent manner , the same observat ion can befound in Serg io Buarque: W e may cons truc t exce l l ent wo rks ,enrich our humani ty wi th new and unforeseen aspects , br ing toperfect ion the type of c ivi l izat ion we represent: st i l l , what iscerta in i s that the consequences of both our ef forts and of ourlaz iness seem to take part in a system proper to another c l imateand a d i f f erent l andscape . (Op. Cit., p. 15).

l s S e e t he p r o s p e c t o inO Espelho, a w eek ly ma gazine of l itera-ture , fashion, craf ts and the arts , Typographia de F. de PaulaB r i t o , R . J . , 1 8 5 9 , N o . 1, p . 1; I n t r o d u ^ a o i n RevistaFluminense, a we ekly for ne w s , l it era ture , s c i e nc e , pas t im es , e t c . ,Year 1 , N o . 1 , N ov em b er 1868, pp. a n d 2 ;A Marmota na Corte,Typ ograp hia de Paula Bri to , N o. 1, Se pte m be r 7 , 1840, p . ;Re-vista Ilustrada, pub l i shed by A ng elo Ag ost in i , R . J . , January 1,1876 , N o . 1, Ap rese nta ?a o inO Bezouro, an hum orous and


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51sat ir ic per io dical , Yea r 1 , N o . 1 , Apri l 6 , 1878: C a v a c o , in OCabriao, N o . 1, T yp . Im perial , S. P . , 1866, p. 2 .

1 6 N e s t o r G o u l a r t R e i s F i l h o ,Arquitetura Residential Brasileira noSeculo XIX, m an usc ript , pp . 14-15.I 7 N e s t o r G o u l a r t R e i s F i l h o ,op. cit., p. 8.1 8 V i o t t i d a C o s t a ,op. cit., p. 104.

J e a n - M i c h e l M a s s a , Auventude de Machado de Assis, Civil i-za?ao Bras i le ira ed. , Rio de Janeiro , 1971, pp. 265, 435, 568.

2 0 S . R o m e r o ,Ensaios de Critica Parlamentar, More i ra , M axim ino& Cia . , Rio d e Janeiro , 1883, p. 15.

2 1 Fo r the rea son s for thi s inert ia , se e C els o Fur tado, Formagaoeconomica do Brasil, Com panh ia Edi tora Na c ion a l , Sa o Pau lo ,1971.

2 2 F o r an exac t ing ana lys i s o f our ideo log i ca l p roblem s , in a mannersom ew ha t di fferent from my ow n, see Paula Beigu elma n,Teoria eAgao no Pensamento Abolicionista, Vol. I, n Formagao Politicodo Brasil, Livraria Pioneira ed . , S . Pa ulo , 1967. In her bo ok th ereare severa l quota t ions which seem to come f rom Russ ian nove l s .Fo r exam ple , the fo l l owing f rom Pere i ra B arre to : ' 'On one s ide arethe abol i t ionis t s , r iding upon a sent imental rhetor ic and armedwi th a revo lut ionary m etap hy s i c s , pursu ing abs trac t types in orderto turn them into social formulas; on the other s ide are the land-owners , s i l ent and humi l iated, in the at t i tude of those who recog-nize the ir gui lt or m edi tate an im po ss ib le re ve n ge . P. Barretowas the proponent of a sc ient i f i c agr icul turein the avant-gardeof cof fee cul t ivat ionand he be l ieved that abol i t ion should be anautomat i c consequence o f agr i cu l tura l progres s . Bes ides , he con-s idered negroes to be an infer ior race; i t was a di sgrace to dependu p o n t h e m .Op. cit., p. 159.

2 3A nto nio Can dido o f f ers sug ges t i ve ideas on th is mat ter . H e t r ie s toiden t i fy a tradi tion rooted in the soc ia l type w e ca l l ' ' M aland ro' ' inour l iterature . S ee hi s Diale 't ica da M alan dr ag em , inRevista doInstituto de Estudos Brasileiros, S ao Pa ulo , 1970, N o . 8 , and theparagraphs on an th ro po ph ag y, an ironic theor y of the 1920scon cern ing Brazi l ' s incorp orat ion of fore ign cul tu res , in D igres-sao sent imenta l sobre Osw ald de A nd ra de , inVarios Excritos,Livraria Duas Cidades , Sao Paulo , 1970, p . 84 e t seq.

Schwarz, Roberto - Misplaced Ideas

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