Uma crise vista com os óculos do humor: a independência do Brasil nos periódicos jocosos portugueses (A crisis seen through the spectacles of humor: the independence of Brazil in Portuguese jocular periodicals)

Description

The independence of Brazil in 1822 has deepened the crisis in which Portugal had been living since the French invasions that took place during the Napoleonic Wars. The absence of the Royal Family in Rio de Janeiro since 1808 and the ‘de facto’ British protectorate that followed paved the way to a general outrage against what was felt as the downgrade of the European part of the Portuguese empire to the status of “colony of a colony”. The Liberal revolution of Oporto, in 1820, generated the illusion that it was still possible to revert the emancipation of Brazil, but the economic reality, the inept handling of political affairs by the Vintista Government and Cortes and the radicalism of the press joined efforts to speed up the secession. Newspapers, periodicals and jocular leaflets stood out in this process. Their humor quickly changed from irony to satire and sarcasm and often resorted to slander and abuse as weapons of choice wrought by the various liberal and absolutist political factions blaming one another for the ruin of colonial trade and the loss of Brazil. Laughter became a tool for the conquest and direction of public opinion supporting confronting strategies at a critical turning point that would soon plunge Portugal in civil war.

Period	21 Jun 2022
Event title	XX Conference of the International Society for Luso-Hispanic Humor Studies: Humour et crise, Humour en crise
Event type	Conference
Conference number	XX
Location	Paris, France
Degree of Recognition	International