Identity affinities, exchanges of interests, mutual support networks and political uses of the stage (Rio de Janeiro, 1871)

Abstract

This article is part of a field of research that investigates nineteenth century LusoBrazilian theatrical relations as part of a broader movement to transform theater into a transnational cultural form. The Portuguese actor Francisco da Silva Taborda's tour of Rio de Janeiro which took place in 1871 was chosen as the locus of observation, as it was a favorable opportunity to put him in a game of contrasts with the Brazilian actor Francisco Correa Vasques, to which he was compared in Brazilian and Portuguese theater circles. The objective of this exercise is to understand how the tours, by promoting moments of cultural encounters and exchanges, allowed the subjects involved to mobilize different components such as the exchange of interests, mutual support networks, identity affinities and the political uses of the platform, taking into account the prefigured audience and the context in which they were inserted.