This article analyses how the original text of Raízes do Brasil, published in 1936, was modified in the second and third editions, dated 1948 and 1956, respectively. The changes made by Sergio Buarque de Holanda fall into three broad categories: an inversion of the positive view of the Iberian legacy's role in Brazilian development; the replacement of personalism by democracy as a political solution to the challenges posed by the emerging urban order; and the reformulation of the diagnosis on the well succeeded transposition of what he call the "European culture" to Brazil. Thus, the book's narrative was drawn away from a pragmatic resignation to cordiality and came, albeit skeptically, closer to a promise of civility. The article concludes that, considered by the criterion of the defense of democracy, Raízes do Brasil can only be said to be a classic after such movement.
Sergio Buarque de Holanda; Raízes do Brasil [Roots of Brazil]; Cordiality; Civility; Democracy