Aquarelas de um Brasil Watercolours of a certain Brazil

A literatura teve participação efetiva no projeto de constituição da nacionalidade que dominou o panorama intelectual brasileiro do século XIX; para tanto, veio aliar-se às duas 'ciências' que configuram o Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (IHGB), criado precisamente para responder a este objetivo. No entanto, tanto história quanto geografia são atividades dotadas de eficácia política e social, poder que não se confere à literatura. O que, então, ela teria vindo fazer neste projeto? Que função específica a ela estaria destinada? Que motivo seria forte o bastante para aproximar dois campos que o pensamento ocidental tratava de manter distintos desde o século XVIII? Eis algumas questões que este texto levanta e sobre as quais se propõe refletir.<br>Literature took an effective part in the project of establishing Brazilian nationality, a proposal that dominated the intellectual scene in 19 century Brazil. It thus became an ally of the two 'sciences' which made up the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (IHGB), conceived precisely to meet this purpose. Nevertheless, both history and geography are activities invested with political and social efficacy and such power is not accorded to literature. What, then, was the role reserved for literature in this project? What did its role consist of? What might have been the rationale for joining two fields that Western thought has been trying to keep separate since the 18 century? These are some of the questions addressed by this paper.

Abstract licence: CC BY

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.