The penetration of “Dutch invasions” paradigm: historiographic constructions of the first half of the 20th century

Abstract

The idea of a Lusitanian Brazil with the exaltation of Portuguese resistance capable of expelling the invading enemy and liberating the colony was drawn in the 19th century as part of the national construction project. The consolidation is found in the work of Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, although his interpretation did not become paradigmatic at his time. Analyzing the penetration of this historiographical narrative of the “Dutch invasion” in the historiography of the first half of the 20th century is the central objective of this article. Therefore, the classics of Capistrano de Abreu, Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, José Antônio Gonsalves de Mello, Hermann Wätjen e Charles Boxer are examined in terms of the history of Dutch occupation in Brazil, questioning how such approaches reify the invasion paradigm or launch significant historiographical advances to the theme. In addition to a nomenclature, it was concluded that until the mid-twentieth century the Varnhagenian model was rooted in Brazilian historiography, despite the proposed critical considerations and changes in perspective by foreign historians and regional historiography. The Portuguese ancestry remains, even though the new historians produce highly original and radically different interpretations from the 19th century historiographic work.