Folklorism, popular literature, and invention of gaucho traditions in the first Brazilian Republic: the Cancioneiro Guasca (1910-1917), by Simões Lopes Neto

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the folklorist work of João Simões Lopes Neto (1865-1916). In particular, it reinterprets his connections with contemporary movements to define popular culture, as well as his contacts with practices of literary representation based on peasant culture in neighboring Argentina and Uruguay. Through an exploration of his book Cancioneiro Guasca (1910-1917), this article shows that there was a collective project of inventinggaucho (southern Brazilian) traditions in Rio Grande do Sul during the First Republic, which included the folklore practices that Lopes Neto had collaborated on. This variation of Gaucho identity also aligned with the Júlio de Castilhos Positivist project for conservative modernization, in addition to integrating the nationalist patrol of its symbolic borders.

Keywords:
Invention of traditions; Folklore and folklorists; gaucho movements; Rio Grande do Sul; Rio de la Plata Region