The story of the Great Western of Brazil Railway, tracing the line's history from the conception of its constituent parts, through its financially turbulent period of private operation, to the seemingly inevitable nationalisation in 1950. Throughout the book, the author places the history of the railway in the context of the social history of contemporary Brazil.
Brazilian Railway Culture examines the cultural relationship Brazil has had with its railways since tracks were first laid by British, American and French engineers in the nineteenth century. ‘Railway’ and ‘Brazil’ are words not often found in the same sentence. Yet each year over seven hundred million passengers are carried by train in the major urban centres, and tens of thousands of visitors enjoy heritage steam rides at over a dozen restored lines and museums. Brazilian Railway Culture starts from the premise that Brazilian society and culture is not just samba, football and sex. The book takes a journey through Brazilian cultural output from 1865 to the present day, examining novels, poetry, music, art, film and television, as well as autobiographies, written histories, and museums to uncover ways in which the railway has been represented. This interdisciplinary study engages with theories of informal empire and postcolonialism, Latin American studies, cultural studies, film and television studies, literary criticism, art history and criticism, museum and heritage studies, as well as railway studies. This is a supplementary text for use by students on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It will also be of interest to academics, researchers, and railway historians across a range of disciplines.
