The Emperor's Beard: Dom Pedro II and His Tropical Monarchy in Brazil

The Emperor's Beard: Dom Pedro II and His Tropical Monarchy in Brazil by Schwarcz, Lilia Moritz. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780809042197.

How Brazil created a European-style monarchy in the New World--and why its influence has endured In the early nineteenth century, when the rest of Latin America was in a tumult of revolutions that established republics throughout the continent. Brazilians celebrated Dom Pedro II as their emperor and rightful leader. Paradoxically, this quasi-European royal figure--son of the king who had sought refuge in Rio de Janeiro from the Napoleanic armies conquering Portugal--came to symbolize much of what was modern and specifically Brazilian about his people. And when in 1889 Pedro fled into exile and Brazil, too, became a republic, many of the symbols of his royal power were incorporated into new structures of meaning in the new Brazil. Why was this so? Lilia Moritz Schwarczs innovative, exciting work blends politics, anthropology, cultural studies, and art history to show how this strange amalgam of European monarchy and New World innovation was invented and sustained. The Emperors Beard explores the world of Dom Pedros court--its rituals, icons, racial features, art, and politics--and delineates for us the means and processes whereby the Brazilian empire took shape. Indeed, as Schwarz shows, the social and political meaning of Dom Pedros court continues to affect the Brazilian imagination today. This is a scintillating, surprising work of real historical and cultural importance.