Synopses & Reviews
In this book Sueann Caulfield explores the changing meanings of honor in early-twentieth-century Brazil, a period that saw an extraordinary proliferation of public debates that linked morality, modernity, honor, and national progress. With a close examination of legal theory on sexual offenses and case law in Rio de Janeiro from the end of World War I to the early years of the Estado Novo dictatorship, Caulfield reveals how everyday interpretations of honor influenced official attitudes and even the law itself as Brazil attempted to modernize.
and#9;While some Brazilian elites used the issue of sexual purity to boast of their countryandrsquo;s moral superiority, others claimed that the veneration of such concepts as virginity actually frustrated efforts at modernization. Moreover, although individuals of all social classes invoked values they considered andldquo;traditional,andrdquo; such as the confinement of womenandrsquo;s sexuality within marriage, these values were at odds with social practicesandmdash;such as premarital sex, cohabitation, divorce, and female-headed householdsandmdash;that had been common throughout Brazilandrsquo;s history. The persistence of these practices, together with post-World War I changes in both official and popular moral ideals, presented formidable obstacles to the Estado Novoandrsquo;s renewed drive to define and enforce public morality and private family values in the late 1930s.
and#9;With sophisticated theoretical underpinnings, In Defense of Honor is written in a clear and lively manner, making it accessible to students and scholars in a variety of disciplines, including Brazilian and Latin American studies, gender studies, and legal history.
Review
andldquo;The author is to be applauded for asking hard questions about the ways in which sexual activity, or the lack thereof, are used to make statements about race and class.andrdquo;andmdash;Jeffrey Lesser, author of Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil
Review
andldquo;This is an outstanding work both in terms of its highly original research and its very sophisticated interpretation.andrdquo;andmdash;Barbara Weinstein, author of For Social Peace in Brazil: Industrialists and the Remaking of the Working Class in Sandatilde;o Paulo, 1920andndash;1964
Synopsis
Examines debates over sexual honor to explore the ways in which private morality was infused with the cultural politics of nation-building and modernization, and was used to legitimate power differentials based on race, gender, and class.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [273]-298) and index.
About the Author
Sueann Caulfield is Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan.