ABSTRACT
Whether during the nineteenth century the writing of History acquires more precise contours, it is imperative to recognize the role of local color in this process. On one hand, the local color ensures the national character of intellectual productions and, on the other, it offers a means to legitimize the period's narratives. The scope of this article is not only to reaffirm the association between local color and nation, but also to suggest possibilities to apprehend the the local color and, above all, to discuss its implications and effects on the historiography development. To this end are used the texts about local color in the French context, and the texts of the Revista of IHGB and Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen. As a hypothesis, the article suggests that local color is part of the link established between time and space in the moment, and that, due to its pictorial origin, it also contributes to the construction of a nation's image.
Keywords:
Local color; writing of history; Brazilian historiography; Varnhagen; literature.