Abstract:
Based upon a reading of the novel Mother and son, a Brazilian tale, written in 1964, this article shows the centrality of the "city" in the work of Gilberto Freyre. Grounded in his correspondence from the first years in the United States, as well as articles published in the Diário de Pernambuco, it examines how the meaning attributed to the city changes throughout his work. The relationship between the modern and the traditional is key to Freyre's interpretation of Brazilian society.
Keywords:
Gilberto Freyre; Mother and son, a Brasilian tale; Brazilian thought; Tradition; Modernity