ABSTRACT

Mário de Andrade’s ideas are usually seen as similar to the hegemonic meaning taken on by the themes of national identity and Brazilian culture in the 1920s-1940s, and this has been ultimately used to explain his participation in the Estado Novo. On the contrary, the article demonstrates both the dissonant and critical meaning of his ideas, which shaped the public policies for culture democratization he formulated in the 1930s, and the tensions they impinge on this intellectual and political context.

KEYWORDS:
Mário de Andrade; Estado Novo; culture democratization; national identity