From Fanatics to Folk: Brazilian Millenarianism and Popular Culture by Patricia Pessar Review by: Martha S.

Santos Luso-Brazilian Review, Vol. 43, No. 1 (2006), pp. 148-149 Published by: University of Wisconsin Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4490657 . Accessed: 23/01/2012 21:48
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Review43:1 Luso-Brazilian

practices mirrored integralistaones, such as an impassioned anticommunist rhetoric, but despite the explicit support integralist leaders offered initially to the Estado Novo regime, Vargaspreferred to eliminate potential competitors. Consequently,the diminished combativeness of the integralista"national leader"Plinio Salgadoand internal dissentions within the movement mitigated its strength.When a radicalfractionof the integralistmovement led a failed coup in d'&tat May 1938,it was extinguished without much resistance.After the end of WorldWar II, Brazilunderwent redemocratizationand the integralistleader Plinio Salgadoreturnedto politics where he maintained an impressivecareeras an elected representative three decades, although distanced himself from his for former leadershiprole in the integralista movement. CelsoCastro Vargas,Rio de Janeiro FundaqdoGetdilio

Pessar, Patricia. FromFanaticsto Folk:BrazilianMillenarianismand Popular Culture.Durham:Duke UniversityPress,2004. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

273 pp.
In this book, PatriciaPessarreturnsto the topic of Brazilianmillenarianism-to which she made contributionsin the early198os-with a twofold objective.First, she traces the history of the millenarian community of Santa Brigida, located in Northern Bahia, from its creation in the 1930sby Pedro Batistato the 199os. Second, she seeks to provide a revisionistapproachto the study of Brazilianmillenarianismas a social phenomenon. Looking upon millenariancommunities as engagedwith the wider world and consideringBrazilianmillenarianismover the longueduree,the author arguesthat the creation and continuation of this "holy city" over time representsa subalternstrategyof both resistanceand accommodation to the demands of modernizingprojectsby both Church and State.Thus, she aptly delineates the collaborationbetween Pedro Batistaand rural political bosses, as well as representativesfrom state and national governments, beginthis ning in the 1940s. Paradoxically, collaborationaligned the pilgrims at Santa more closely with the State's Brigida goals of political centralizationand modernwhile it allowed them autonomy to practice their decidedly unorthodox ization, Catholicism.For Pessar,elite discourses on popular millenarianism,along with those produced by millenarianiststhemselves and other actors, contribute to the social construction of millenarian meanings. Therefore, she demonstrates how PedroBatista's discipleshavebeen depicted as fanatics,modern ruraldwelland guardiansof an "authentic" backlandsculture, accordingto the shifting ers, of different groups. Without losing sight of the spiritual motivations agendas behind the movement, and its interactionswith the Church,Pessarachieves this portrayalof a millenariancommunity in constant flux as she skillfullyuses ma-

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terialsfrom ethnographicand archivalresearchshe conducted in Santa Brigida in the 1970os again in the 1990os. and In an attempt to present a correctiveto approaches that regardmillenarian movements as discreet social entities, Pessarsets out to examine the broad phenomenon of Brazilianmillenarianismas a "travelingcultural formation" (225) and to delineate its shifts "over the long sweep of Brazilianhistory" (13). This perspectiveleads the authorto interesting comparisons that show the "borrowing" among millenarian movements, especiallybetween Santa Brigida and the Juazeirocommunity of early-twentiethcentury Ceari. Nevertheless, the book suffersfrom a generalizingtone in the discussion of political and economic trajectories and social relationsduring the historical periods which constitute the "deepbackground"(7) to the millenarian fervor observed in rural Brazil since the late 18oos. For instance, the work claims to map the transformationof millenarianism from an ideology of domination by colonial elites into a popular discourseof resistanceamong poor backlanders.Keyto this discussion is Pessar's elaboration -already advancedin her earlierwork--of the sacralizednature of patron-client ties between elite and subalterngroups and the adherence by the ruralpoor to millenarianmovements when patronageties erode. Pessarargues that these hegemonic understandings,based on ideas of reciprocityand the importance of the divine kingdom, had been "forged among and between dominant and subalternclassesover the centuries"(6). Yet,the book does not present any compelling evidence showing how this process occurred, except for references to generallyolder scholarshipon the colonial period (16-17). Indeed, the colonial period appearsas a seeminglybenevolent time when, although coercive, patronageties "bufferedthe rural poor against extreme deprivation"(25). This colonial past is contrastedwith a similar generalized depiction of the unvaryingly negative effects on the ruralpoor of the broad social change occurring in Brazilsince the mid-18oos.Here, capitalistaccumulationand land commodification unfailingly enriched only the powerful and caused them to abandon their obligations as patrons, which forced a turn towards millenarianism among the poor who more than ever needed the protection afforded by ideal patrons. It is noteworthy that in creatingthis portrayalthe book does not acknowledge the scholarshippublished since the 198os that documents the degree of economic agencyand autonomy enjoyedby a significantsegment of the ruralpoor in various periods and regions of Brazil. These shortcomings are significantin light of Pessar's insistence on charting the course of millenarianism"overseveral centuries of Brazilianhistory" (225). Moreover, they distractthe readerfrom the more careful analysis of the Pedro Batistamovement. Nevertheless,as a study of the complex interactionsbetween the variousactorsengagedin the construction of millenarianismat Santa Brigida this work representsa remarkable achievement. Martha S. Santos University of Denver