Ariel, Caliban and Prospero: dilemmas of American identity and their impact in Mexico and Brazil

• Grant number: 14/01618-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: July 17, 2014
• End date: December 16, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Political Theory
• Principal Investigator: Bernardo Ricupero
• Grantee: Bernardo Ricupero
• Host Investigator: Guillermo de Jesus Palacios y Olivares
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: El Colegio de México, Mexico

Abstract

The research will study how, in key moments, the relationship between Latin America and the United States was understood. Special attention will be given to two authors, the Uruguayan José Enrique Rodó and the North American Richard Morse, and their quest to deal with American identity and its dilemmas through the use of metaphors taken from William Shakespeare´s play, "The Tempest". In spite of the historical distance between Ariel (1900) and Prospero´s Mirror (1982), both books mark a positive assessment of Latin American culture. Besides, I will analyze the impact of the works in Mexico and Brazil, indicating different political possibilities to think Latin American identity. I am especially interested in trailing Brazilian difficulties to understand the country as part of Latin America. In sum, the work aims to explore fundamental questions of Latin America´s political and social thought, which are still little known in Brazil. (AU)