| dc.description.abstract | 1. This study provides an analysis of attempts by the Instituto Superior de Estudos Brasileiros (ISEB – Higher Institute of Brazilian Studies) to interpret and/or defend Brazilian culture as written by Nelson Werneck Sodré, Roland Corbisier, Roberto Campos, Álvaro Vieira Pinto and Guerreiro Ramos. In 1955, the administration of the Brazilian President João Café Filho created ISEB to construct an ideology of national development. Intellectuals associated with this institute taught and published profusely on such topics as Brazilian development, culture and imperialism. While United States cultural influence in Brazil escalated during the Cold War, ISEB literature on this influence is nearly absent. For these ISEB intellectuals, the need was not to defend existing Brazilian culture from American influence, but rather to create or find the authentic (and liberating) Brazilian culture that other imperial powers had previously suppressed and alienated. Hence, while a dialogue existed among ISEB intellectuals on the subject of Brazilian culture and imperialism, this dialogue developed independently of United States influence.
2. In this paper, company and legal documents, newspaper articles, and diplomatic and personal correspondence unite to establish a richer understanding of the interaction between British and Brazilian abolitionists in this case against British subjects residing in Brazil. This study presents brief descriptions of the St. John d'el Rey Mining Company, the Cata Branca slaves and the Morro Velho case, before analyzing Joaquim Nabuco's role, both domestically and abroad, and the press coverage inspired by his actions. While Nabuco's actions brought the case into domestically published newspapers, generating greater publicity and pressure abroad and within Brazil's borders. Interaction between Nabuco and the British and Foreign Antislavery Society strengthened the case and provoked a backlash against the St. John d'el Rey Mining Company from the Brazilian Parliament, Brazilian courts, Brazilian and international media and members of both the Brazilian and British public. In addition, newspapers like The Rio News continued to provide greater space to slavery and abolitionism after the resolution of the Morro Velho case and Nabuco carried the attention that this case gained into future antislavery debates. | |
