History 1930: Literature and Social History: A View from Brazil

Professor: Sidney Chalhoub. The objective of this course is to study major authors and works of nineteenth-century Brazilian fiction. Writing fiction from a spot deemed to be in the “periphery” of the western world meant a difficult and complex engagement with European literary and intellectual traditions. The course will focus primarily on the evidence regarding changes in the politics of social dominance in the period –from slavery and paternalism to the worlds and meanings of “free” labor. Questions of class, gender and race in the general context of defining and setting new limits of citizenship rights will be emphasized.