Gilberto Freyre
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Gilberto de Mello Freyre (March 15, 1900 – July 18, 1987) was a Brazilian sociologist,
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
, historian, writer, painter, journalist,
congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
born in
Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...
,
Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...
,
Northeast Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises ni ...
. He is commonly associated with other major Brazilian cultural interpreters of the first half of the 20th century, such as
Sérgio Buarque de Holanda Sérgio Buarque de Holanda (July 11, 1902 – April 24, 1982) was a Brazilian historian, writer, journalist and Sociology, sociologist. His greatest achievement was Raízes do Brasil, a landmark of Brazilian sociology, in which he developed the ...
and
Caio Prado Júnior Caio da Silva Prado Júnior (February 11, 1907November 23, 1990) was a Brazilian historian, geographer, writer, philosopher and politician. His works inaugurated a new historiographic tradition in Brazil, identified with Marxism, which led to ...
. His best-known work is a sociological treatise named ''
Casa-Grande & Senzala ''Casa-Grande e Senzala'' ( en, The Masters and the Slaves, italic=yes) is a book published in 1933 by Gilberto Freyre, about the formation of Brazilian society. The '' casa-grande'' ("big house") refers to the slave owner's residence on a sugarca ...
'' (literally, "The main house and the slave quarters," as on a traditional
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
, although the book title is usually translated as ''The Masters and the Slaves'').


Life and Work

Freyre had an internationalist academic career, having studied at
Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
, Texas from the age of eighteen and then at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he got his master's degree under the tutelage of William Shepperd. At Columbia, Freyre was a student of the anthropologist
Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...
. After coming back to Recife in 1923, Freyre spearheaded a handful of writers in a Brazilian regionalist movement. After working extensively as a journalist, he was made head of cabinet of the
Governor of the State of Pernambuco The Governor of the State of Pernambuco is the chief executive of the state of Pernambuco. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Pernambuco's state government. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her Excellency w ...
,
Estácio Coimbra Estácio de Albuquerque Coimbra (22 October 1872 – 9 November 1937) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. Biography Coimbra was born in an '' engenho'' in Barreiros, Pernambuco, to farming Portuguese João Coimbra and Francisca de Albuquerqu ...
. With the 1930 revolution and the rise of
Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...
, both Coimbra and Freyre went into exile. Freyre went first to
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and then to the US, where he worked as Visiting Professor at
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
. By 1932, Freyre had returned to Brazil. In 1933, Freyre's best-known work, ''The Masters and the Slaves'' was published and was well received. In 1946, Freyre was elected to the federal Congress. At various times, Freyre also served as director of the newspapers ''A Província'' and ''
Diário de Pernambuco ''Diário de Pernambuco'' (''Pernambuco Daily'') is a newspaper published in Recife, Brazil. The newspaper began publication on 7 November 1825. It is the oldest continuously circulating daily in Latin America and the oldest continuously circulati ...
.'' In 1962, Freyre was awarded the
Prêmio Machado de Assis The Prêmio Machado de Assis (the Machado de Assis Prize) is a literary prize awarded by the Brazilian Academy of Letters, and possibly the most prestigious literary award in Brazil. The prize was founded in 1941, named in memory of the novelist ...
by the
Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literature, literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its found ...
, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of Brazilian literature. That same year, he was elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. Over the course of his long career, Freyre received numerous other awards, honorary degrees, and other honors both in Brazil and internationally. Examples include admission to L'ordre des Arts et Lettres (France), investiture as Grand Officier de La Légion d'Honneur (France), investiture as Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Great Britain), the Gran-Cruz of the Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique (Portugal), and honorary doctorates at Columbia University and the Sorbonne. Freyre's most widely known work is '' The Masters and the Slaves'' (1933). At the time, this was a revolutionary work for the study of races and cultures in Brazil. As Lucia Lippi Oliveira notes, "In the 1930s and 1940s, Freyre was praised as being the creator of a new, positive self-image of Brazil, one that overcame the racism present in authors like
Sílvio Romero Sílvio Vasconcelos da Silveira Ramos Romero (April 21, 1851 – June 18, 1914) was a Brazilian " Condorist" poet, essayist, literary critic, professor, journalist, historian and politician. He founded and occupied the 17th chair of the Brazilian ...
,
Euclides da Cunha Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands''), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions ...
, and
Oliveira Viana Francisco José de Oliveira Viana (June 20, 1883 – March 28, 1951) was a Brazilian professor, jurist, historian, sociologist, and an ''imortal'' of the ''Academia Brasileira de Letras.'' Biography Son of Francisco José de Oliveira Viana and ...
." The book is a turning point in the analysis of the black heritage in Brazil, which is highly extolled by Freyre. His effort both to rehabilitate the black culture and identify Brazil as a conciliatory country is comparable to the ones of other Latin American writers, such as Fernando Ortiz in Cuba (''Contrapunteo Cubano de Tobacco y Azúcar'', 1940), and
José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities ...
in Mexico (''La Raza Cosmica'', 1926). Since its publication and initial reception, this work has also been criticized for how its "focus on a single identity in modern Brazil resulted not only in factual inaccuracies and distortions of reality but also in a larger societal refusal to acknowledge racism in modern Brazil," for example. ''The Masters and the Slaves'' is the first of a series of three books, which also included ''The Mansions and the Shanties: The Making of Modern Brazil'' (1938) and ''Order and Progress: Brazil from Monarchy to Republic'' (1957). The trilogy is generally considered a classic of modern cultural anthropology and social history. Other very important contributions of Freyre's were ''The Northeast'' (1937) and ''The English in Brazil'' (1948). The actions of Freyre as a public intellectual are rather controversial. Labeled as a communist in the 1930s, he later moved to the political Right. He supported Portugal's Salazar government in the 1950s, and after 1964, defended the military dictatorship of Brazil's
Humberto Castelo Branco Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco () (September 20, 1897 – July 18, 1967) was a Brazilian military leader and politician. He served as the first president of the Brazilian military dictatorship after the 1964 military coup d'etat. ...
. Freyre is considered to be the "father" of
lusotropicalism Lusotropicalism ( pt, Lusotropicalismo) is a term and "quasi-theory" developed by Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre to describe the distinctive character of Portuguese imperialism overseas, proposing that the Portuguese were better colonizer ...
: the theory whereby
miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...
had been a positive force in Brazil. "Miscegenation" at that time tended to be viewed in a negative way, as in the theories of
Eugen Fischer Eugen Fischer (5 July 1874 – 9 July 1967) was a German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics, and a member of the Nazi Party. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, ...
and
Charles Davenport Charles Benedict Davenport (June 1, 1866 – February 18, 1944) was a biologist and eugenics, eugenicist influential in the Eugenics in the United States, American eugenics movement. Early life and education Davenport was born in Stamford, Co ...
. Freyre was acclaimed for his literary style. Of his poem "
Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
of all saints and of almost all sins," Brazilian poet
Manuel Bandeira Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. Life and career Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 190 ...
wrote: "Your poem, Gilberto, will be an eternal source of jealousy to me"(cf.
Manuel Bandeira Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. Life and career Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 190 ...
, ''Poesia e Prosa''. Rio de Janeiro: Aguilar, 1958, v. II: Prose, p. 1398). Freyre wrote this long poem inspired by his first visit to
Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...
. Freyre died on July 18, 1987 in Recife.


Quotes

“Every Brazilian, even the light skinned fair haired one carries about him on his soul, when not on soul and body alike, the shadow or at least the birthmark of the aborigine or the negro, in our affections, our excessive mimicry, our Catholicism which so delights the senses, our music, our gait, our speech, our cradle songs, in everything that is a sincere expression of our lives, we almost all of us bear the mark of that influence.” -''The Main House and the Slave Quarters''


Selected bibliography

*'' The Masters and the Slaves: a study in the development of Brazilian civilization'' – First published in Portuguese in 1933, under the title "Casa-Grande & Senzala". *''New World in the Tropics: the culture of modern Brazil'' *''The Mansions and the Shanties: the making of modern Brazil'' – First published in Portuguese in 1936, under the title "Sobrados e Mucambos". *''The Northeast: Aspects of Sugarcane Influence on Life and Landscape'' (1937) *''Sugar'' (1939) *''Olinda'' (1939) *''A French Engineer in Brazil'' (1940), second edition published in 1960 *''Brazilian problems of Anthropology'' (1943) *''Continent and Island'' (1943) *''Sociology'' (1945) *''Brazil: an interpretation'' *''The English in Brazil'', 1948 *''Cape Verde Visited by Gilberto Freyre'', 1956 *''Order and Progress: Brazil from monarchy to republic'' *''Order and Progress: Brazil from monarchy to republic'' *''Recife Yes, Recife No'' (1960) *''Men, engineering and social routes'' (1987)


See also

*
Lusotropicalism Lusotropicalism ( pt, Lusotropicalismo) is a term and "quasi-theory" developed by Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre to describe the distinctive character of Portuguese imperialism overseas, proposing that the Portuguese were better colonizer ...
*
Mixed Race Day In Brazil, "Mixed Race Day" (''Dia do Mestiço'') is observed annually on June 27, three days after the Day of the Caboclo, in celebration of all mixed-race Brazilians, including the caboclos. The date is an official public holiday in three Braz ...
* Research Materials: Max Planck Society Archive


References


Bibliography

*Braga-Pinto, César. “Sugar Daddy: Gilberto Freyre and the white man’s love for blacks”. The Masters and the Slaves: Plantation Relations and Mestizaje in American Imaginaries. Palgrave, 2005, p. 19-33 *Braga-Pinto, César. “Os Desvios de Gilberto Freyre”. Novos Estudos – CEBRAP 76. São Paulo, Nov. 2006. *Isfahani-Hammond, Alexandra (2005). White Negritude: Race, Writing, and Brazilian Cultural Identity (New Concepts in Latino American Cultures). Palgrave Macmillan Press. . *Page, Joseph A. (1995), ''The Brazilians''. Da Capo Press. . *Gilberto Freyre Foundation – Gilberto Freyre's Virtual Library – https://web.archive.org/web/20070306124951/http://bvgf.fgf.org.br/ *Needell, Jeffrey D. "Identity, Race, Gender, and Modernity in the Origins of Gilberto Freyre's Oeuvre." The American Historical Review. 100.1 (February 1995):51–77. *Stein, Stanley J. "Freyre's Brazil Revisited: A Review of the New World in the Tropics: The Culture of Modern Brazil." The Hispanic American Historical Review. 41.1 (February 1961):111–113 *Morrow, Glenn R. "Discussion of Dr. Gilberto Freyre's Paper." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. 4.2 (December 1943):176–177. *Mazzara, Richard A. "Gilberto Freyre and Jose Honorio Rodrigues: Old and New Horizons for Brazil." Hispania. 47.2 (May 1964):316–325. *Nery da Fonseca, Edson. ''Em Torno de Gilberto Freyre''. Recife: Editora Massangana, 2007. *Pallares-Burke, Maria Lúcia. ''Um Vitoriano dos Trópicos''. São Paulo: Editora da Unesp, 2005. *Sanchez-Eppler, Benigno "Telling Anthropology: Zora Neale Hurston Gilberto Freyre Disciplined in their Field-Home-Work." American Literary History. 4.3 (Autumn 1992):464–488. *Villon, Victor. O Mundo Português que Gilberto Freyre Criou, seguido de Diálogos com Edson Nery da Fonseca. Rio de Janeiro, Vermelho Marinho, 2010. * Burke, Peter / Pallares-Burke, Maria Lúcia G. ''Gilberto Freyre: Social Theory in the Tropics'' (The Past in the Present, 4). (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2008)


Sources


''O Portal da História''


External links


Gilberto Freyre recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on March 30, 1975Gilberto Freyre recorded for the literary archive in the Hispanic Division at the Library of Congress. May 30, 1975 at the Library of Congress field office in Rio de Janeiro.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freyre, Gilberto 1900 births 1987 deaths People from Recife Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Brazilian people of Dutch descent Brazilian politicians of indigenous peoples descent Brazilian people of Spanish descent Brazilian anthropologists Brazilian male writers Brazilian sociologists Brazilian expatriates in the United States Columbia University alumni Baylor University alumni 20th-century Brazilian people 20th-century Brazilian philosophers 20th-century anthropologists Members of the American Philosophical Society