Gilberto Freyre y Sérgio Buarque de Holanda: Mestiçagem y cordialidade como estrategias de convivencia

Abstract

During the 1930s, authors Gilberto Freyre and Sergio Buarque de Holanda present in their two major works -The Masters and the Slaves (1933) and Roots of Brazil (1936)- the idea of "miscegenation" and "cordiality", two concepts that contribute decisively to what can be understood as "Brazilianness". In this article, these two concepts are interpreted within the discussion about the role of Brazil in the modernization process and the country's prospects and possibilities of developing a sense of modernity in accordance with its own historical and cultural background. Thus, "miscegenation" and "cordiality" are seen as forms of coexistence that, despite its problematic origin in colonial times, have considerable potential to develop its own Brazilian modernity.