Description
Book SynopsisIn Brazil, the United States, and the Good Neighbor Policy: The Triumph of Persuasion during World War II, Alexandre Busko Valim studies the use of cinema in Brazil as an instrument of political persuasion by the United States during the period of the so-called Good Neighbor policy during World War II by examining extensive documentation found in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. In doing so, Valim demonstrates the modus operandi of media imperialism: its mapping strategies and control of the market, its actions, and its objectives of domination. When thinking about the place of images as a means of convincing and imposing an ideological project, the author notes the methods necessary to examine this relationship between art and politics, a problem that is central in the contemporary world. Scholars of Latin American Studies, international relations, history, political science, and media studies will find this book particularly useful.
Trade ReviewBrazil, the United States, and the Good Neighbor Policy: The Triumph of Persuasion during World War II is a detailed and comprehensive study of how the U.S. government used movies as part of the Good Neighbor Policy in Brazil during World War II to win the hearts and minds of Brazilians to the Allies’ side. From an insightful analysis of the internal operations of Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs to a thick description of how audiences reacted to U.S. films, this political and cultural study, based on extensive archives sources, offers a convincing analysis about how U.S. cultural hegemony over Brazil increased as a result of wartime cooperations.
-- James N. Green, Brown University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 The Brazilian Division: The Office’s arrival in Brazil
Chapter 2 Allies must have friendly attitudes: propaganda, opportunities, and profit
Chapter 3 The show must go on: the good neighborhood cinema gets to the countryside
Chapter 4 Nodding at extraordinary movies: The good neighborhood cinema greatest hits
Chapter 5 Hunting with the best hounds: the cinema projects of the Office in Brazil
Chapter 6 More dramatic than any fiction: the multiple frontiers explored by the good neighborhood
