The article examines the idea of Europe conceived by Stefan Zweig and Hermann Ullmann in the similarly titled books about Brazil written in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In the political context between the great wars marked by the rise of Nazism, the question is posed regarding to what extent Europe continues to serve as a model of civilization and what the critical dimension is that is expressed in concepts reversing the roles of Europe and Brazil. One detects a partial rupture with dichotomous and hierarchical viewpoints about the relationship between the Old World and the New World, and new forms of relationship between these regions within the worldwide context are suggested.
Brazil; the Vargas era; travel writings; Stefan Zweig (1881-1942); Hermann Ullmann (1884-1958)