OTÁVIO DE FARIA: A BRAZILIAN FASCISM IN THREE ACTS (1931-1937)

Abstract

The Brazilian political-social thought of the 1930s often reflects the climate of radicalism – ideological and cultural – from that time. Those were years when liberalism, socialism, integralism and fascism clashed in the public and intellectual arenas, in search of the roots of national identity and the possible paths to its destiny. In this context, the young Otávio de Faria appears, a member of the Catholic reaction, theorist of Brazilian fascism and acclaimed at the time as one of the most eloquent voices of the “new generation”. Thus, the main issue of the present work is to conceive how Faria understands the promises and limits of fascism as a possible way out of the aporias of modern Brazil. To this end, three works from his bibliography are analyzed: “Machiavel e o Brasil” [1931] (1933), “Destino do socialismo” (1933) e “Cristo e César” (1937). In his debut book, the fascist revolution is ambiguously combined with the theme of the spiritual revolution and the formation of a elite capable of civilizing the nation “from above”. In the second and third, a fascito-Catholic synthesis offers an unequivocal way out of the crisis, suggests an alternative capable of recovering the harmony between the spiritual and temporal order, as well as announces a “new world” beyond modernity.