Maurício de Almeida Abreu

Paradoxes of modernity: imperial Rio de Janeiro, 1808–1821

Abstract This paper examines the spatial dynamics of urbanism in Rio de Janeiro during the early nineteenth century. Conventional narratives of modernisation fail to capture the complexities of this moment, between 1808 and 1821, when the city replaced Lisbon as the capital of the Portuguese empire. The position of colony and metropolis were inverted, Portuguese absolutism was bolstered by British liberalism, and a market-economy arose alongside the expansion of slavery. As the newly-created imperial capital, Rio felt the effects of these various transformations: the physical boundaries of the city rapidly expanded, its economy diversified and the cultural life of the city was re-shaped. Our aim in this paper is to understand this particular moment of urban transformation as a product of the intersection of global networks of trade, slavery and industrial capitalism. Rather than depicting the historical geography of the city as a passive space for European conquest and expansion, we consider the extent to which its urban dynamics were shaped by a distinct local geography of globalisation. In particular, we examine the interrelated spatialities that are part and parcel of the modernising process.

Cultural geography in Brazil: a brave start

ate programmes (three of them granting PhD degrees), geography is alive and well in Brazil. Cultural geography, however, is a relative newcomer here, only now making moves to establish itself as a branch of the discipline. While the particular history of geographical thought in Brazil may account for this situation, the prospects for the future development of cultural geography are encouraging, as was evident during the First National Conference on Space and Culture, recently held in Rio de Janeiro. Academic geography originated in Brazil during the 1930s, when university departments were created in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, both based on the French model. Vidalian geography was a predominant influence from the outset, orienting academic research towards the production of regional monographs. However, the study of genres de vie never attracted the attention of Brazilian geographers, a paradox that reflects the low value placed until recently on the heritage of the Brazilian past, material or otherwise. Influenced by a major ideological construct developed in the 19th century, which defined their land as a ‘country in the making’, Brazilians have always been eager to greet the future and to abandon ‘traditional lifestyles’. It is no wonder, then, that the interpretation of cultural landscapes played a small part in Brazilian geography, despite the influence of the Vidalian model. The present existed only to be replaced by a new and long-awaited future. If traditions were to be lost in such