Brazil Imagined

<p>The first comprehensive cultural history of Brazil to be written in English <i>Brazil Imagined: 1500 to the Present</i> captures the role of the artistic imaginary in shaping Brazil's national identity. Analyzing representations of Brazil throughout the world this ambitious survey demonstrates the ways in which life in one of the world's largest nations has been conceived and revised in visual arts literature film and a variety of other media.</p> <p>Beginning with the first explorations of Brazil by the Portuguese Darlene J. Sadlier incorporates extensive source material including paintings historiographies letters poetry novels architecture and mass media to trace the nation's shifting sense of its own history. Topics include the oscillating themes of Edenic and cannibal encounters Dutch representations of Brazil regal constructs the literary imaginary Modernist utopias good neighbor protocols and filmmakers' revolutionary and dystopian images of Brazil. A magnificent panoramic study of race imperialism natural resources and other themes in the Brazilian experience this landmark work is a boon to the field.</p>