The article analyzes the interpretations and diagnoses of Brazil developed by scientist and writer Arthur Neiva in the 1910s and 1920s, focusing especially on his literary crônicas and his report on the 1912 scientific expedition to the interior of Brazil. I highlight the author's criticisms of the mentality of the governing elite and men of letters, especially their failure to take political initiative, their penchant for imitating ideas, and their exaggerated use of pretentious rhetoric, which Neiva believed to be the main culprits behind Brazil's cultural and political backwardness. I also analyze how Neiva addressed the race issue and the dilemma of nation building, which in the early twentieth century was considered a theme of prime importance in understanding Brazil's reality and destiny within the so-called concert of nations.
Arthur Neiva; intellectual history; nation; national identity