FROM UNDESIRABLE TO CELEBRATED: REPRESENTATIONS OF JAPANESE IMMIGRATION IN THREE BRAZILIAN NEWSPAPERS AFTER WWII (1946-1958)

Abstract

Brazilian representations of the Japanese immigration underwent rapid transformations in the first years following World War II. Drawing from three Brazilian newspapers—O Estado de S. Paulo (SP), Jornal do Brasil (RJ) and Jornal do Commercio (RJ) —, this study analyzes how images of the Japanese immigration changed from its near ban in 1946 (during the Constituent Assembly) to the celebrations of its Fiftieth Anniversary in 1958. All three newspapers supported the ban in 1946, but ended up celebrating Japanese immigration in 1958. But their paths connecting 1946 to 1958 are appreciably different. Besides empirically identifying the representations of the Japanese minority group amidst mainstream press outlets in the immediate post-war period, the study also examines some of the factors behind such changes, verifying the importance of the economy, geopolitics, local leadership and association actions, as well as the racial and national ideologies that dominated the public debate at each moment.

Keywords
Japanese immigration; Documentary analysis; O Estado de S; Paulo; Jornal do Brasil; Jornal do Commercio