Molding the Body, Forging the Nation: Race, Physical Culture, and the Shaping of Brazil (1822-1930)
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Molding the Body, Forging the Nation: Race, Physical Culture, and the Shaping of Brazil (1822-1930) By Tiago Jorge Fernandes de Albuquerque Maranhão Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in History August 7, 2020 Nashville, Tennessee Dissertation Director: Marshall C. Eakin, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee: Arleen Marcia Tuchman, Ph.D. Celso Thomas Castilho, Ph.D. Earl E. Fitz, Ph.D. To my father ii “Raimundo was twenty-six years old and would be a finished type of Brazilian if it weren't for the big blue eyes he had got from his father. Very black, shiny and curly hair; a dark and mulatto complexion, but thin; pale teeth that gleamed under the blackness of the mustache; a tall and elegant stature; wide neck, straight nose and wide forehead (...) In all his life, always far from his homeland, among different peoples, full of different impressions, taken up with study concerns, he had never managed to come up with a logical and satisfactory deduction regarding his origins.” Aluisio Azevedo – O Mulato, 1881 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I scarcely realized the journey I would be on when I returned to graduate school in 2015, ten years after receiving my first masters’ degree. Every scholarly project is a project of collaboration, and I have many to thank for helping finish this one. I had the good fortune of working on and completing this dissertation under the support of amazing people. During my five years in the Vanderbilt University’s Department of History, I incurred more debts than I can state here. I would like to begin by thanking the outstanding professors who supported and inspired me to complete this journey. First, I owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Marshall C. Eakin, my advisor. The watchful and prodding eyes of Marshall and his enthusiasm for my work helped my transition back to academia. Marshall’s steady and pragmatic guidance kept me focused on my goals. Marshall is more than a tutor. I want to thank him for his patience and encouragement when my progress stalled and on correcting my still flawed writing. His guidance and insights on my topic contributed greatly to this project. I want to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Professors Arleen Tuchman, Celso Castilho, and Earl Fitz. I appreciate Dr. Fitz’s willingness to join the committee at the end of the process. Other faculty at Vanderbilt helped in numerous ways, shaping my ideas not only for this project but my scholarly and professional identity overall. I could not have made it through my program without the encouragement of Edward Wright-Rios, Jane Landers, Catherine A. Molineux, Helmut Smith, Michael Bess, Samira Sheikh, Thomas Schwartz, William Caferro, Benjamin Legg, and Lesley Gill in particular. I cannot imagine a richer, more supportive, and intellectually rigorous environment. The Vanderbilt University provided a supportive environment for the completion of my dissertation. The Center for Latin American Studies, especially Nicolette Kostiw and Alma Paz-Sanmiguel, supported my research with travel funds that allowed me to access archives in Brazil. I also thank the Center for Teaching, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, and the staff of the Jean and Alexander Heard Library – especially the amazingly dedicated Paula Covington. I am also grateful to the North American Society for Sport History for the financial iv support for my studies with a dissertation travel grant and to Professor Jerry Dávila who invited me to spend the Summer of 2019 as a Visiting Scholar at The Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies of the University of Illinois. This dissertation would not have been possible without the advice, guidance, and compassion offered at archives in Brazil. I am eternally grateful to the staff of the Hemeroteca and Setor Manuscritos of the Fundação Biblioteca Nacional and the Arquivo Histórico do Exército in Rio de Janeiro; Julio Maia, Vera Regina, and several others at the Centro de Memória da Educação Brasileira (CMEB-ISERJ); all the staff of the Coleções Especiais at the Biblioteca Pública do Estado de Pernambuco (BPE); Hildo Leal and others at the Setor Manuscritos of the Arquivo Público Estadual Jordão Emerenciano (APEJE); and the staff of the Coordenação-Geral de Estudos da História Brasileira (Cehibra) at Fundação Joaquim Nabuco in Recife. The feedback that I received from several invited workshops, seminars, presentations, and conferences has been invaluable. My friends in academia, around the world, have been the smartest, funniest, and kindest people I have had the opportunity to work with and talk to. Some of them need special mention for their encouragement, prodding, and discussions along the way. Thanks for everything, Courtney Campbell, Lucas Victor, Elaine Cunha, André Maranhão Santos, Alexandre Pelegrino, Maria Paula Andrade, and Jorge Delgadillo Núñez. You have my undying gratitude. You are all amazing and lifelong friends. I cannot fully express how grateful I am to my family for its support. My mom has patiently waited for the day she could call me “doctor.” The love and support of my sisters, stepfather, stepsiblings, brother-in-law, nephew, niece, cousins, uncles, aunts, and my grandmother have been invaluable, and without them this dissertation would likely remain unfinished. Their undying interest in seeing the final project provided a boost of motivation. Finally, this dissertation would not be possible without my wife. Her unending support, patience in listening to my ideas, quick to smile, and easy laugh made the last few years of writing that much more enjoyable. I am so lucky that I am spending my life with someone so funny, patient, and loving. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................................ii EPIGRAPH.............................................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES..............................................................................................................................................xiii INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................1 Nation and Identity..............................................................................................................................................6 Building Brazil’s Body Politic in the Longue Durée.........................................................................................11 Chapter Outline..................................................................................................................................................20 Chapter I. A State in Search of a Nation: Thinking the Brazilian Body……………………………………. .……..29 Creating “the strong, wise, and good son of Brazil”……………………………………………..…..…..36 “The Brazilian problem par excellence”…………………………………………………………………45 “The hybrid coffee-with-milk”…………………………………………………………………..…..…..53 Wombs, Schools, and Barracks……………………………………………………………………...…...63 II. From Conception to Birth: Puericulture, Gender, and the Growth of the Nation..……………….…..….68 “Infantes tuendo pro patria laboramus”: conceptions of childcare and the issue of Puériculture………...72 “Ave, lex, nascituri et morituri te salutant”: wet nurses, infant mortality, and maternal hygiene…...…..90 Preparing “strong and sound generations”: a transition…………………………………………….......109 III. Educating Bodies for the Nation: Physical Education and Brazil’s School System……..….……….....114 Projecting “corporeal improvement and physical perfection”…………………………………….……117 Ensuring strong generations for the homeland…………………………………………….…………...128 “Necessary as the air and space to the birds of the sky”: the physical education of schoolgirls….…....135 National Physical Education: “a problem”………....…………………………………………………..141 “For the Greatness of the Race”……………………………………………………………….……......148 Transition to Authoritarianism………………………………………………………………………….160 vi IV. Soldierly Bodies: Masculine and Militaristic Mechanisms of National Identity……………….……..165 Defying “idle habits”………………………………………………………………………….………169 Cunhambebe vs. Xerxes, or the Brazilian Citizen-Soldier……………………………………….…...177 Athletic Soldiers for the Nation………………………………………………………………….……192 “Doctrinal Unity”……………………………………………………………………………….……. 204 Transition to Authoritarianism………………………………………………………………………...208 V. Invigorating Sports for a Degenerate People: Nation, Race, Identity………………………………....216 Sportsmanship in the tropics…………………………………………………………………………..222 From elitist clubs to the underprivileged suburbs………………………………………………..........234 “Let the Aryanists take note of this!”…………………………………………………………………247 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................................264 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................................................................372 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. A Redenção de Cam, by Modesto Brocos, 1895...............................................................................................29