“The scrupulous illuminator of Brazilian history”: the chronological and thematic plots of the 1st edition of the general history of Brazil by Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen (1854/1857)

• Autor(a) principal: RIBEIRO, Renilson Rosa
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Patrimônio e Memória
• Texto Completo: http://pem.assis.unesp.br/index.php/pem/article/view/134
• topic: Historiography. Narrative, Nation. Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, 1816-1878. Brazilian Institute of History and Geography. History of Brazil - the 19th century; Historiografia. Narrativa. Nação. Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, 18161878. Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro. História do Brasil – século XIX.

This paper develops a study on the construction of the idea of colonial Brazil built up during its Imperial era based on the analysis of the first edition of The General History of Brazil (1854/1857), by the historian and diplomat Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen (18161878). Examined in the context of his work within the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute (IHGB) during the production process of a national memory of the Second Empire, attempts will be made to identify the chronological and thematic plots, forged by Varnhagen for his General History. Links will then be proposed to the logic of essentialism and the fixed notion of culture and identity, which seek to define the nation as an unequivocal and hegemonic entity, and furthermore, as a necessity for the future of humanity. Understanding the mechanisms as the seeds and foundations of the nation, the Brazilian colonial past was sought as the north of the compass of navigation through the sections of The General Historyof Brazil. Trying to decipher this discourse – the making of the nation as truth – leads into the search of the relations between power and knowledge that the writings of the Viscount of Porto Seguro established.