Oliveira Martins and Afonso Arinos: regions and tragedies

Abstract

In this research about the themes of region and tragedy in texts published in Portugal and in Brazil in the 19th and 20th century, we selected a number of works written by two authors: Oliveira Martins and Afonso Arinos. The adopted tools to accomplish this research were taken from the field of philosophical hermeneutics, in the attempt to perceive the movement that these interpreters of Brazil and Portugal undertook to understand reality. The book História da civilização ibérica (“History of the Iberian Civilization”) by Oliveira Martins, along with the compilation entitled Notas do Dia (“Notes of the Day”) and the book Lendas e tradições brasileiras (“Brazilian Legends and Traditions”) by Afonso Arinos became our sources. We conclude, among other things, that the Iberian Peninsula is considered in these texts as (geographical, historical and spiritual) totality, and that such scheme was transposed, to some extent, to Arino’s writing about Brazil.