XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Transnational Authoritarianism: the presence of Nazi narratives and narrator in Brazil

• In Event: Circulation of ideas between Brazil and elsewhere

Abstract

The Estado Novo’s official neutrality during the first years of WWII and the escalating tensions in Europe leading up to it, as well as its subsequent alliance with the USA have had, for decades, a reductionist effect on the analysis of the influence of the Axis in Brazil. Notwithstanding the recognition of Vargas’ regime as authoritarian, the impact of European authoritarianism is often evaluated narrowly, concentrating on individuals such as Vargas himself, Francisco Campos, and Filinto Muller, or the Integralistas movement. This understanding is also based on a general historiographical leniency towards the Vargas administration (CANCELLI, 2021) and an emphasis on its nationalistic character.
Historic documentation shows that these perceptions provide only a restricted view of Nazi – and, to a lesser degree, Italian – presence in Brazil, from the mid-1930s and up to 1941. Beyond local supporters, the Axis utilized several channels to spread its ideology, including the press and radio broadcasting. These instruments allowed the Axis regimes to establish dynamic, constant, and direct contact with Brazil's general population, and thereby disseminate their social and political discourse and narratives.
By collecting and analyzing a variety of sources – policymakers' personal correspondence, official publications and reports, press and advertisements – this paper reveals the magnitude and penetration of public diplomacy and psychological warfare by the Axis, as well as the role played by Germany’s Mass Communication strategies in shaping Vargas’s government propaganda.

Author

• Matan Ankava, Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP)