Brazil and the Dialectic of Colonization by Alfredo Bosi (review)

First published in 1992 and with numerous reprints, Alfredo Bosi's Brazil and the Dialectic of Colonization continues to be a fundamental reference for understanding some of the major dilemmas and conflicts that permeate every aspect of Brazilian society. Departing from the roots of the words "colony," "cult," and "culture," the author traces and analyzes the colonial formation process and its problematic extensions until today. Composed of ten chapters and three postscripts, the book examines a substantial range of works that include José de Anchieta, António Vieira, José de Alencar, Lima Barreto, João da Cruz e Souza and the cultural industry. The author investigates the process of colonization, the meanings of domination as well as instances of cultural resistance and negotiation in colonial and postcolonial Brazil.

Brazil and the Dialectic of Colonization explores the different ways in which cultural, religious, political and legal lines are crossed and redrawn in Brazil from its beginning as a Portuguese colony to its emergence as a modern nation. It scrutinizes some of the paradoxes and tensions that, implicitly or explicitly, are embedded within the works of missionaries, poets, novelists, sculptors, popular artists along with the discourse of lawyers and politicians. The chapters propose an alternative critical framework by situating the texts within their cultural, historical, and social contexts. To be more precise, Bosi develops an account starting from the sphere of the individual and of the texts but also in continuous dialogue with a broader and multifaceted socio-political, cultural and economic context. One such example is the provocative study of António Vieira's sermons and ideas. The chapter introduces the reader to a man immersed in the contradictions of his time, and explores his continuous attempts to reconcile the theological doctrine to the colonizer's rule and economic interests. The chapter describes a Vieira divided "between a greater universalistic and egalitarian logic, and a lesser ad hoc, particularistic, and self-interested rhetoric" (111).

Bosi also touches on the issue of racial discrimination when he revisits Barreto's works and Cruz e Souza's poetry. In a time marked by the struggle for power between coffee growers and the soldiers loyal to Floriano Peixoto, Barreto sarcastically introduces himself as "an observer who knew himself to have been defeated by the societal machine but who would not submit to it" (229). In his writings, Barreto denounces overarching nationalist discourses that, in reality, persist in relegating the black population to the margins of society. As Bosi rightly argues, Barreto's sense of the relativity and precariousness of notions of nationalism and his perception of himself as the Other inform a critical gaze that attempts to unveil the real face of a racist society that nationalist discourses tried so desperately to suppress.

Brazil and the Dialectic of Colonization also considers the ways imported ideas are appropriated and adapted to a local context, as is the case with the Catholic doctrine in the colonial time or the influence of liberalism and positivism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Brazil. In order to illuminate some of the historical impasses of Brazilian society, Bosi explores the specific circumstances that can explain how "politicians who defended orthodox economic liberalism fought to preserve slave labor" in nineteenth-century Imperial Brazil (170). In the last chapter, the term culture takes center stage. Throughout his analysis, Bosi discusses the boundaries between high culture, erudite culture, mass culture and popular culture. Once again the book sheds light on a series of paradoxes in the midst of which the most varied and diverse notions of Brazilian culture are dialectally formed. Bosi raises important reflections on Brazilian cultures, exploring the interrelation between cultures that somehow do not merge but are constantly evolving, intersecting and changing.

Finally, when examining the dialectic between a slave-holding mentality and liberal consciousness, Bosi argues that when we examine two apparently contradictory discourses "closely and in their respective contexts, we can find more than one...