Archival Research in Brazil
Date
2005-08
Authors
Romo, Anadelia
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Abstract
I applied for a research development grant to conduct archival research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and to support my writing upon my return. My current project seeks to unite the political and intellectual histories of race relations in twentieth-century Brazil. To understand the political situation, it is necessary to examine the role of public officials and public policies in some detail. For this reason I focused my project on the state of Bahia, Brazil. Bahia provides an important counterbalance to studies of race that have most often focused on Rio, where Afro-Brazilians compose a minority of the population and where Afro-Brazilian culture never reached the same level of dominance, influence, and mainstream political acceptance. My methodology for this project combines close textual analysis of documents with an in-depth study of the personal archives of several central figures in Bahian politics. My research during the course of the REP grant focused on the political side of this project and examined extensive personal records of various Bahian public figures held in the archive of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. My research promises a new reading of traditional political sources, as well as a new approach to Brazilian race relations. Upon my return from research I was able to dedicate significant time to beginning the process of writing up this research, which will be a chapter in my upcoming book.
Description
Research Enhancement Program Final Report
Keywords
archival research, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, race relations
Citation
Romo, A. (2005). Archival research in Brazil. Research Enhancement Program, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.