"OUR OLDER BROTHER": FLORESTAN FERNANDES, A READER OF MARIÁTEGUI

Abstract

Florestan Fernandes is one of the pioneers in disseminating the work of José Carlos Mariátegui in Brazil. The central aim of this article is to analyze and interpret some manifestations of Fernandes's encounter with Mariátegui. First, we will present some of the main instances of the Peruvian thinker's work in the texts, interviews, and public addresses made by the Brazilian sociologist. Second, we will provide the results of a research made at the Fundo Florestan Fernandes archive, which sheds some light on the work being done during the course of Fernandes's readings: countless marks, notes, and questions written in the margins of books by the Peruvian thinker that the sociologist had access to in his personal library. Thus, we seek to reinforce the idea that many of the problems raised by Amauta regarding Peru during the 1920s - and, by extension, Latin America - truly aroused the interest of Fernandes, who is considered Brazil's greatest sociologist.

Keywords:
Florestan Fernandes; José Carlos Mariátegui; Latin America; Marxism