Synopses & Reviews
In the wake of African decolonization, Brazil attempted to forge connections with newly independent countries. In the early 1960s it launched an effort to establish diplomatic ties with Africa; in the 1970s it undertook trade campaigns to open African markets to Brazilian technology. Hotel Trandoacute;pico reveals the perceptions, particularly regarding race, of the diplomats and intellectuals who traveled to Africa on Brazilandrsquo;s behalf. Jerry Dandaacute;vila analyzes how their actions were shaped by ideas of Brazil as an emerging world power, ready to expand its sphere of influence; of Africa as the natural place to assert that influence, given its historical slave-trade ties to Brazil; and of twentieth-century Brazil as a andldquo;racial democracy,andrdquo; a uniquely harmonious mix of races and cultures. While the experiences of Brazilian policymakers and diplomats in Africa reflected the logic of racial democracy, they also exposed ruptures in this interpretation of Brazilian identity. Did Brazil share a andldquo;lusotropicalandrdquo; identity with Portugal and its African colonies, so that it was bound to support Portuguese colonialism at the expense of Brazilandrsquo;s ties with African nations? Or was Brazil a country of andldquo;Africans of every color,andrdquo; compelled to support decolonization in its role as a natural leader in the South Atlantic? Drawing on interviews with retired Brazilian diplomats and intellectuals, Dandaacute;vila shows the Brazilian belief in racial democracy to be about not only race but also Portuguese ethnicity.
Review
andldquo;Hotel Trandoacute;pico is a superb book. It takes on broad themes such as race and imperialism, modifies much of the current knowledge about Brazilandrsquo;s dictatorship, and suggests a reevaluation of that form of government in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Hotel Trandoacute;pico will be read not only by scholars of Brazil and Latin America but also by those studying Africa, empire, and postcolonialism.andrdquo;andmdash;Jeffrey Lesser, author of A Discontented Diaspora: Japanese Brazilians and the Meanings of Ethnic Militancy, 1960andndash;1980
Review
andldquo;This book is no standard diplomatic history. It falls within the genre of workandmdash;mostly related to the study of US foreign relationsandmdash;that seeks to show how domestic race relations have left a profound mark on the conduct of foreign policy. . . . [A] well-written and insightful book. . . .andrdquo;
Review
“Impressive research in Brazilian and Portuguese archives (especially those of the foreign ministries and the secret police), newspapers on three continents, memoirs, and interviews with retired Brazilian diplomats and intellectuals make this book a model diplomatic history and a sophisticated meditation on race and national identity.” - Hendrik Kraay, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Review
andldquo;[T]his is a solidly researched and colourfully written study, and its broad geographical and thematic scope should appeal to a wide readership both within and beyond the confines of Afro- and Luso-Brazilian studies.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Jerry Dandaacute;vila's insightful and very well-written book has arrived at an opportune moment. . . . The considerable strengths of Hotel Trandoacute;pico rest on Dandaacute;vila's solid prior scholarship on Brazil's race relations, unprecedented access to comparatively recent Brazilian diplomatic and Portuguese governmental archives, extended interviews with key players over five years, and broad institutional and collegial ties in several countries. The research is meticulous and copiously documented, the argumentation is skillful and clear, and the style is lively, detailed and almost novelistic in its narrative.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;At a time when Brazil is garnering widespread attention as a global economic and geopolitical power, this book provides an indispensable historical framework to understand the conditions that have led to this status. Africa in fact served as a platform for Brazil to assert itself as an emerging world power in the 1960s. Dandaacute;vila offers one of the most sophisticated and in-depth analyses of Brazil-Africa relations to date. One of the highlights of his book are the interviews, which capture quite vividly the complicated nexus among affect, culture, race, myth, desire, memory, and foreign policy.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Jerry Dandaacute;vila has transformed the history of Brazilandrsquo;s diplomatic initiatives in Africa during the era of decolonization, not only adding depth and fascinating detail to this story but also showing how the pursuit of a special Brazil-Africa relationship both drew upon Brazilandrsquo;s claims to be a andlsquo;racially democraticandrsquo; nation and laid bare the contradictions in those claims.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
A study of perceptions of race and national identity in Brazil's conflicted effort to build relations with African nations in the second half of the twentieth century.
Synopsis
The attempts by Brazilian diplomats and intellectuals to establish ties with Africa during and after decolonization reveal the contradictions in Brazil s idea of itself as a racial democracy.
About the Author
“Jerry Dávila has transformed the history of Brazil’s diplomatic initiatives in Africa during the era of decolonization, not only adding depth and fascinating detail to this story but also showing how the pursuit of a special Brazil-Africa relationship both drew upon Brazil’s claims to be a ‘racially democratic’ nation and laid bare the contradictions in those claims.”—Barbara Weinstein, author of For Social Peace in Brazil: Industrialists and the Remaking of the Working Class in São Paulo, 1920–1964“Hotel Trópico is a superb book. It takes on broad themes such as race and imperialism, modifies much of the current knowledge about Brazil’s dictatorship, and suggests a reevaluation of that form of government in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Hotel Trópico will be read not only by scholars of Brazil and Latin America but also by those studying Africa, empire, and postcolonialism.”—Jeffrey Lesser, author of A Discontented Diaspora: Japanese Brazilians and the Meanings of Ethnic Militancy, 1960–1980
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Brazil in the Lusotropical World 11
2. Africa and the Independent Foreign Policy 39
3. andquot;The Lovers of the African Raceandquot;: Brazilian Diplomats in Nigeria 64
4. War in Angola, Crisis in Brazil 91
5. Latinitand#233; or Fraternitand#233;? Senegal, Portugal and the Brazilian Military Regime 117
6. Gibson Barboza's Trip: andquot;Brazil (Re)discovers Africaandquot; 141
7. Brazil and the Portuguese Revolution 170
8. Brazil's Special Representation in Angola, 1975 190
9. Miracle for Sale: Marketing Brazil in Nigeria 221
Epilogue 244
Notes 257
Bibliography 293
Index 307