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"The Vigorous Core of Our Nationality" explores
conceptualizations of regional identity and a distinct population
group known as nordestinos in northeastern Brazil during a crucial
historical period. Beginning with the abolition of slavery and
ending with the demise of the Estado Novo under Getulio Vargas,
Stanley E. Blake offers original perspectives on the paradoxical
concept of the "nordestino" and the importance of these debates to
the process of state and nation building.
Since colonial times, the Northeast has been an agricultural
region based primarily on sugar production. The area's population
was composed of former slaves and free men of African descent,
indigenous Indians, European whites, and mulattos. The image of the
"nordestino" was, for many years, linked with the predominant
ethnic group in the region, the Afro-Brazilian. For political
reasons, however, the conception of the "nordestino" later changed
to more closely resemble white Europeans.
Blake delves deeply into local archives and determines that
politicians, intellectuals, and other urban professionals
formulated identities based on theories of science, biomedicine,
race, and social Darwinism. While these ideas served political,
social, and economic agendas, they also inspired debates over
social justice and led to reforms for both the region and the
people. Additionally, Blake shows how debates over northeastern
identity and the concept of the "nordestino" shaped similar
arguments about Brazilian national identity and "true" Brazilian
people.
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