A virtude dos sacrifícios versus a ciência das transações: Tenório Cavalcanti e o campo político do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This dissertation interprets the politician Tenorio Calvacanti as a political phenomenon. Calvacanti was a popular politician who focused primarily on residents of the poor outskirts of the city and state of Rio de Janeiro between the 1930s and 1960s. I analyze the political discourse, symbols, and cultural codes that constituted his public image, as well as how his political work framed the dynamics and the structure of the political arena in Rio de Janeiro. This study draws on the newspaper Luta Democratica, between the years 1954 and 1964, and on his speeches in the Câmara dos Deputados (House of Representatives), between 1951 and 1964. Through analysis of these materials I show how the elements that constituted Calvacanti as a political phenomenon serve as an interpretive lens to better understand a variety of phenomena from this era, including the mechanisms of political representation, the construction of social identities, the way that the process of social inclusion and exclusion were publically perceived, as well as broader social conflicts of that period.