Against the “flood of this type of imported literature of great popular acceptance”: Comics in Brazil between americanisation and nationalisation (1960-1964)

• Autor(a) principal: Gomes, Ivan Lima
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Estudos Ibero-Americanos
• Texto Completo: https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/index.php/iberoamericana/article/view/41528
• topic: Brazil (1960-1964); National-popular culture; Americanisation; Comics (Brazil); CETPA; Brasil (1960-1964); Nacional-popular; Americanización; Historietas (Brasil); CETPA; Brasil (1960-1964); Nacional-popular; Americanização; Quadrinhos (Brasil); CETPA

The publication of comics in Brazil was consolidated during the 1940s and 1950s by publishers focused on the production and distribution of comic books. One of the consequences of this scenario was the manifestation of critical voices against comics in Brazil. Media related, then, with the United States, the comics were accused of being a cultural expression foreign to Brazilian culture. In the wake of these critical restrictions, demands were followed by Brazilian artists who began to demand more space in the comics market, arguing that themes and characters associated with popular culture and Brazilian history should be valued. Such movements were articulated around artists’ associations, who advanced in the criticism of the imperialism of the United States and made their demands echo with sectors of the press and the political class. The article describes this story, analysing the formation of artists’ associations in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, its repercussions in the newspaper Última Hora and what we consider as the culmination of this movement: the constitution of a cooperative of comic artists in the city of Porto Alegre between 1961 and 1964 – it’s the Cooperativa Editora e de Trabalho de Porto Alegre (CETPA). We discuss this story as an important moment for the constitution of a Brazilian cultural identity on comics, marked by tensions and partly inspired in the establishment of a critical counterpoint in relation to the comics of the United States.