History of Brazil

History 508:360

Rutgers University

Fall 2009

Monday & Wednesday 6:10-7:30

Gail D. Triner Van Dyck Hall 106 e-mail: gtriner@gmail.com web site: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~triner

Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 4:30-5:30 or by appointment

The History of Brazil explores the major themes of Brazilian history since independence. Brazil currently accounts for about half of Latin America, in population, geographic area and economic size. The country has experienced extremes in its history; and today it straddles the First and Third Worlds. This course develops insight on how Brazil reached its current condition. It covers social, political, economic and cultural developments. The major themes that we will focus on include: the nature and effect of slavery on Brazil, the tensions between continuity/change and between individual/society in Brazilian history.

Please read the syllabus carefully; it includes:

· a description of the course and its requirements

· readings for the course

· a schedule of class sessions and assignments

· a description of the electronic resources for the class. (If you are registered properly, you will be able to access all of the material for the course through Sakai.)

A day or two before each class session, I will post a highly summarized outline of the issues that I expect each class to cover on the web page for this class. (You can get to this site by going through the links on my home page, see address above.) I intend for these very broad outlines to help you begin thinking about the issues that we will cover in class. (Or, if you miss class, give you some indication of what you miss.) You should not rely on these outlines as exhaustive descriptions for classes. And you should, especially, not rely on them as a substitute for class attendance. Depending on how any class session actually progresses, we may not cover the issues in the order that they appear; and we may use different words and phrases to cover the concepts.

I am available for any questions or discussion during office hours, by appointment, or at any time by e-mail. If you are not doing as well as you would like in the class, or have any concerns, your best course of action is to see me as early in the semester as possible.

Requirements for the course (with their respective proportion of your final grade) are as follows:

%grade

30	Take-home mid-term essay.
40	Take-home final essay.
30	Class participation. I take class participation seriously; and it can affect your grade. I evaluate class participation on the bases of the quantity and quality of your contributions to class discussions and short, unannounced writing assignments in class, based on assigned readings and films, during the semester. You will receive a grade for the quantity and quality of your participation in class sessions. The short, unannounced writing in-class assignments will occur at the beginning of class sessions. You will need to be in class in order to complete them, and there will be no “make-ups” for individual assignments. Your completion of these assignments indicates both your preparation for class session and your attendance. Missing more than one of every consecutive five assignments will lower your grade for the participation portion of the course by one-half letter-grade.
Extra credit	Occasionally, opportunities to earn extra credit may appear on my web site. When these opportunities arise, I announce the amount of credit, specific nature of the assignment and due dates.

Readings for the course:

Books (available at Rutgers University Bookstore and at the Undergraduate Reserve Room of Alexander Library):

Meade, T.	A Brief History of Brazil
Guillermoprieto, A.	Samba
Diacon, T.	Stringing Together a Nation

Short readings available through direct links on my website:

de Léry, J.	History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Otherwise Called America, Chs. 8, 18 & 19
Metcalf, A.	Family and Frontier in Colonial Brazil: Santana de Parnaíba, 1580-1822, Ch. 2 & conclusion
Nazzari, M.	“Favored Women, Subjected Indians: The Settlement of Pero d’Araujo’s Estate in São Paulo (1637-40)” Boyer & Surling Colonial Lives, Ch. 11.
Conrad, R.	Children of God’s Fire,; Selected contemporary accounts on slavery, pp. 63-79.
Meznar, J.	“Carlota Lucia de Brito: Women Power and Politics in Northeast Brazil”
Levine & Crocitti	The Brazil Reader, Chapter IV, The Vargas Era; selected readings
Andrews, G. R.	“Black Mobilization in Brazil” in Andrews & Chapman (eds.) The Social Construction of Democracy
NY Times, 5Apr. 2003	“Racial Quotas in Brazil Touch Off Fierce Debate”
Patai, D.	Brazilian Women Speak, selected readings
Leite Lopes	“Transformations in National Identity through Football in Brazil: Lessons from Two Historical Defeats”

Electronic resources for

508:360

History of Brazil

Students enrolled in the History of Brazil can access the class syllabus and class session outlines through the course website. Links to the on-line readings are inserted into the syllabus. I will post any changes to the syllabus as the semester progresses. I will also keep the outline updated.

You will submit your essays to my e-mail; they will be due before the due date’s scheduled class-time. I will insert any comments on your paper, and grade your essay from the file that you send, and then return it to you by e-mail as soon as I am finished. Remember that e-mail also records the time that you submit your file; I use that time-stamp to determine that you have submitted your paper on time.

This information is also available through the course site on Sakai. When you register for the course, you automatically receive access to the Sakai site. The syllabus is available through the “syllabus” link on the course site (on the left side of the page); you can get to the outline through the “web content” link. Through the semester, additional materials will appear on the Sakai site. These will include the mid-term and final essay assignments. Once in a while, I may alter assignments and readings. If that happens, I will post the new material to the course site and send an e-mail notice.

If you are unfamiliar with Sakai, go to the “Quick Guide for Site Members” for an introduction.

Please let me know about any problems you have with Sakai, and any suggestions that you have about how additional uses of the course site.

CLASS SESSIONS

NOTE:	As you read, keep in mind the questions for each section that are on the syllabus (as below.) They can help you to identify the major issues that you should consider. Class sessions will be combinations of lectures and group discussions. Use the questions on the syllabus as a guide for issues you should look for and think about as you do the readings.
2 Sept.	Introduction – Why Brazil?
7 Sept.	No class
8-9 Sept.	European “Discovery” & Indigenous Contact Note: According to the university’s calendar, class meets on Tuesday 8 September.
	Read		Meade, Ch. 1 de Léry; History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Otherwise Called America, Chs. 8, 18 & 19
	Questions		Do you agree with the following statement: "The settlement of Brazil was a colonization effort that took place within a larger trading system, whose features were already well defined by the time of Brazil’s settlement."? Why or why not?
14-21 Sept.	Settlement, colonization and colonial life
	Read	Meade, Ch. 2 and pages 63-66 of Ch.3 Metcalf; Family and Frontier in Colonial Brazil: Santana de Parnaíba, 1580-1822, Ch. 2 & conclusion Nazarri; “Favored Women, Subjected Indians: The Settlement of Pero d’Araujo’s Estate in São Paulo (1637-40)” Boyer & Surling Colonial Lives, Ch. 11. (Read “Favored Women” for class on 22 Sept.)
	Question	In the Chapter 2 of the text and the assigned chapters from Family and Frontier, we learn that Portuguese settlement of Brazil required that the settlers involve peoples other than themselves in their efforts (specifically, Indians and Africans). How and why did they do so?
23-28 Sept.	Slavery in the 18^th & 19^th Centuries
	Read	Meade, Ch. 3 Children of God’s Fire, selected readings
	Question	Describe the circumstances of slave life that seem most important to you from the readings. Why was slavery important in Brazil?
30 Sept.	No Class
5-12 Oct.	Life in the 19^th Century 5 Oct. Independence 7 Oct. Political organization 12 Oct. Culture & social norms in the country-side
	Read		5 Oct.: Meade, Ch. 4, pp. 73-76 7 Oct.: remainder of chapter 10 Oct. “Carlota Lucia de Brito: Women Power and Politics in Northeast Brazil”
	Questions		How did events in Europe affect Brazilian independence? Was the independence of Brazil a Brazilian or European event? Based on all of these readings on the nineteenth century, how effective was government during the Brazilian Empire? What are the criteria that you use to determine your opinion? What was the "Paraguayan War"; and why was it important for Brazil? Use the reading on Carlota Lucia de Brito to discuss the relationship between family and politics in rural 19^th century Brazil. How did gender relations play into the family & political mix?
14-19 Oct.	Transition to Free Labor & Republic
	Read	Meade, Ch 5
	Question	What were some of the most important changes that occurred within Brazilian society at the end of the 19^th century?
	Midterm essay questions will be posted after class on 19 Oct.
22 Oct.	MIDTERM QUESTION SESSION Midterm essay due by the beginning of class on 26 Oct.
27Oct.- 3Nov.	Becoming Modern in the Twentieth Century
	Read	Meade Ch. 6 for 29 Oct. Diacon, Stringing Together a Nation On 2 Nov., be prepared to discuss Stringing Together a Nation in class.
	Question	Stringing Together a Nation considers 3 major themes: technological modernization (of the telegraph), nation-building and the indigenous Brazilian population. How were these topics related to each other at the beginning of the 20^th century in Brazil? Think of specific examples from the reading.
4 Nov.	Brazil gets BIG: The Vargas Regime
	Read	Meade, Ch. 7 Levine & Crocitti; The Brazil Reader, Chapter IV, The Vargas Era; selected readings
	Question	Define the terms populism, nationalism, and corporatism. What was their importance in constructing the national State during Getúlio Vargas' governments.
9-11 Nov.	21 Years of Military Dictatorship
	Read	Meade, Ch. 8
	Question	The two major justifications that the military offered for the coup of 1964 were the needs to eliminate Communism and to control the economy. Consider how these issues were important throughout the years of the dictatorship. How did the positions of the government change throughout the dictatorship? And, did the military represent a “united front” on these issues? Include insights from the video Capital Sins, as appropriate.
16-18 Nov	Racial Democracy?
	Read	“Black Mobilization in Brazil” in Andrews & Chapman (eds.) The Social Construction of Democracy NY Times, 5April 2003 “Racial Quotas in Brazil Touch Off Fierce Debate”
	Question	Based on these readings (and others that we have done for this class that you may find important) why have some Brazilians characterized Brazil as a “racial democracy”? Drawing on our readings and discussions through the semester, how would you characterize Brazilian race relations?
23 Nov.	Gender Relations and Brazilian Women
	Read	Patai, Brazilian Women Speak, selected readings
	Question	Consider the ways in which the position of women in modern Brazil has been shaped through the Brazilian historic experience. Some of the possible issues to take into account include: political power, family structure, personal independence – along with many others.
25 Nov.	No Class – Happy Thanksgiving

30 Nov.-2 Dec.	Urban society
	Read	Meade, Ch. 9 Guillermoprieto, Samba Leite Lopes “Transformations in National Identity through Football in Brazil: Lessons from Two Historical Defeats” (for class on 2 Dec.)
	Question	Use Guillermoprieto’s Samba and other readings that we have done to describe social relations in modern urban Brazil. Some of the issues that you may wish to consider include: relations between social classes, the continuity of Afro-Brazilian cultural and social legacies, the nature of urban poverty, or the role of community organization in the favelas.
7 Dec.	Indigenous Brazilians at the end of the 20^th century
	Read	I will distribute reading and question during the semester
	Take-home final essay questions will be distributed at the end of class on 8 Dec.
9 Dec.	Conclusion and question session for final essay.