O brasileiro no teatro musicado português : duas operetas paradigmáticas

Abstract

This study analyses two operettas composed in Porto that achieved an undeniable popular success – the Brasileiro Pancrácio (1893) and The Poveiros (1921) – whose protagonists represent two kinds of returning Brazilians, with the inevitable similarities but distinctive characters. The first one insists on the stereotype of the Portuguese literature from the eighteenth century: humble, poorly educated but honest, returning rich, at his midlife, after a long period of emigration, investing his money in his homeland, thus being rewarded with several honorific titles. The second character represents a different kind of return: coming back at a young age for patriotic reasons, refusing Brazilian citizenship demanded by law, preferring repatriation with no money but preserving his honour, he assumes the character of a national hero, placing his pride in being Portuguese ahead of any material ambition. Two different but simultaneously identical characters: both idolized at their comeback, one because represents the possibility of investment and progress, the other because, in a time of national crisis, represents the hope in the regeneration of the country, despite its depression.