19th century Brazilian religion and religiosity

The travel reports of John Mawe, Alcide D’Orbigny and Louis Agassiz

Abstract

This article seeks to establish, analyze and interpret the accounts of foreign travelers John Mawe, Alcide D’Orbigny and Louis Agassiz, which deal with 19th century Brazilian religion and religiosity (1808-1866). To do so, we crossed a path with two axes, which went through an investigation of a historical nature, with the intention of clashing between subject and object. In principle, it is about evidencing a religious narrative between the lines of the established reports, seeking to systematize and, therefore, organize them in their thematic and discursive specificities. Finally, we seek to highlight the reports that deal specifically with the manifestations of Brazilian popular religiosity, as it jumps out of the reports as a strange, heterogeneous and marginal element. In this way, it displays an interpretive portrait of the religious universe of Brazil in the 19th century, with travel literature as a field of approaches to religious phenomena.