A Nation in the Making: Porto Velho Under the Signs of the Estado Novo
Estado Novo; Nationalism; Porto Velho; Brazilian Amazon; State propaganda
This dissertation examines how the Estado Novo (1937–1945) sought to appropriate the social process of nation-ness formation and transform it into state policy, institutionalizing an official national identity and projecting it onto the Amazon, with particular emphasis on Porto Velho between 1930 and 1945. Grounded in a qualitative and exploratory approach, the research combines a systematic literature review (2010–2024) with documentary analysis of primary sources, especially materials from CPDOC/FGV, the journal Cultura Política (linked to the Department of Press and Propaganda – DIP), and the regional newspaper Alto Madeira. The study examines the mechanisms through which Vargas-era nationalism was disseminated as a form of political pedagogy—articulating culture, propaganda, and centralization—and how these discursive frameworks were recontextualized in the local press, particularly through narratives of territorial integration, modernization, and social discipline associated with initiatives such as the “March to the West” and Vargas’s presidential visit to Porto Velho in 1940. It argues that, in Porto Velho, the incorporation of official nationalism operated with strong symbolic density, mediating tensions between center and periphery and contributing to framing the Amazon as a strategic frontier within the national project.