Hélgio Trindade’s Integralismo forty years later: a critique of its reception

Abstract

The article pays homage to the 40th anniversary of Hélgio Trindade’s book Integralismo: o fascismo brasileiro na década de 1930 (published in 1974), a classical work for the studies on Brazilian Integralist Action (AIB), by engaging in a critique of the book’s main thesis reception by the Integralism researchers. It argues that Trindade’s hypothesis was vulgarized and is currently being taken for granted. Thus, it seeks to show that one of the consequences of the “fascist thesis” uncritical reception has not only obstructed more detailed analysis capable of capturing the multiple aspects of the integralist movement, but also made it a stranger in its own land by ignoring, for example, the deep relations between AIB and the Brazilian intellectual context, which was crucial for its political and cultural project’ development and for guiding its practices and actions. Finally, the article intends to provide a critique of how the studies and researches about the Integralism are being made from a crystallized and naturalized view of this political movement.

Keywords

• História
• Sociologia
• Pensamento político brasileiro
• Integralismo
• Intelectuais brasileiros