Controcorrente : episódios da presença italiana em Pernambuco (1880-1930)

Abstract

The time of massive migration to Brazil spans from the decade of the 1880s to the 1930s. According to the data by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics) during this time around 3.5 million immigrants of several nationalities arrived in Brazil: Italians formed more than one third of this group. During the first years of the Republic, it is possible to observe that Italian immigrants outnumber even the Portuguese. This situation did not arise randomly: it was the outcome of an ideological change and political policies implemented, on a smaller scale, during the Empire and in a major way during the First Brazilian Republic. The goal of this work is to investigate the conditions that led these immigrants toward Brazil during the end of the Imperial Age and the beginning of the Republican Age, with a special focus on the groups that came to Pernambuco and influence directly or indirectly the economic and socio-cultural scenario of this region. By doing this, we also aim at analyzing the documents on a piece Italian immigration that worked in the opposite direction to the mainstream Brazilian immigration policies. The work analyzes episodes of Italian immigration in Pernambuco, by relating personal memories with official documents and attempts, in this way, to understand the relationship between Italian immigrants and local communities, by singling out moments of empathy and hardship that arose through this contact. This research reveals documents, institutions and characters that contributed to the formation of an Italian community active in Pernambuco and, despite treating single cases, shows the importance of working on this subject. The theoretical framework supporting this research is provided by Manuel Correia de Andrade, Angelo Trento, João Bertonha, Lilia Schwarcz, Peter Eisenberg, Paul Ricoeur. We point out the importance of identifying and understanding the social and ideological dynamics originated from this overseas displacement.