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From Fanatics to Folk: Brazilian Millenarianism and Popular Culture by Patricia PessarReview by: Martha S. SantosLuso-Brazilian Review, Vol. 43, No. 1 (2006), pp. 148-149Published by: University of Wisconsin PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4490657 .

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148 Luso-BrazilianReview43:1

practices mirrored integralistaones, such as an impassioned anticommunist

rhetoric, but despite the explicit support integralist leaders offered initially

to the Estado Novo regime, Vargaspreferredto eliminate potential competi-tors. Consequently,the diminished combativenessof the integralista"national

leader"Plinio Salgadoand internaldissentions within the movement mitigatedits strength.When a radical ractionof the integralistmovement led a failedcoupd'&tatn May 1938, t was extinguishedwithout much resistance.After the end

of World WarII, Brazilunderwentredemocratizationand the integralist eader

Plinio Salgadoreturnedto politics wherehe maintained an impressivecareeras

an electedrepresentative or threedecades,althoughdistanced himself from his

formerleadershiprole in the integralistamovement.

CelsoCastro

FundaqdoGetdilioVargas,Rio de Janeiro

Pessar,Patricia.FromFanatics oFolk:BrazilianMillenarianismandPopularCulture.Durham:Duke UniversityPress,2004. Notes. Bibliography. ndex.

273pp.

In thisbook, PatriciaPessar eturnsto the topic of Brazilianmillenarianism-to

which shemade contributions n the early198os-with atwofoldobjective.First,she tracesthe history of the millenariancommunity of Santa Brigida,located

in NorthernBahia,from its creationin the 1930sby Pedro Batistato the 199os.

Second,she seeksto providea revisionistapproachto the studyof Brazilianmil-

lenarianismas a socialphenomenon. Lookingupon millenariancommunities as

engagedwith the widerworld andconsideringBrazilianmillenarianismoverthe

longueduree,the authorarguesthat the creation and continuation of this "holy

city"overtime representsa subalternstrategyof both resistanceand accommo-dation to the demandsof modernizing projectsby both Churchand State.Thus,she aptlydelineatesthe collaborationbetween Pedro Batistaand ruralpoliticalbosses, as well as representatives rom state and national governments, begin-

ning in the 1940s.Paradoxically,his collaborationalignedthe pilgrimsat Santa

Brigidamorecloselywiththe State's oalsof politicalcentralizationand modern-

ization,while it allowedthem autonomyto practicetheirdecidedlyunorthodox

Catholicism.For Pessar,elite discourses on popular millenarianism,along with

those produced by millenarianiststhemselves and other actors, contribute to

the social construction of millenarianmeanings. Therefore, she demonstrateshow PedroBatista'sdiscipleshave been depictedas fanatics,modern ruraldwell-

ers,and guardiansof an "authentic" acklandsculture,accordingto the shifting

agendas of differentgroups. Without losing sight of the spiritualmotivations

behind the movement, and its interactionswith the Church,Pessarachievesthis

portrayalof a millenariancommunity in constant flux as she skillfullyuses ma-

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Books Reviewed 149

terials from ethnographicand archivalresearchshe conducted in SantaBrigidain the 1970osnd againin the 1990os.

In an attemptto presenta corrective to approachesthat regardmillenarianmovements as discreet socialentities,Pessarsets out to examine the broad phe-nomenon of Brazilianmillenarianismas a "travelingculturalformation"(225)and to delineate its shifts "over the long sweep of Brazilianhistory" (13).This

perspective eads the author to interestingcomparisonsthat show the "borrow-

ing"among millenarianmovements, especiallybetween Santa Brigidaand the

Juazeirocommunity of early-twentiethcentury Ceari. Nevertheless, the book

suffers rom a generalizing one in the discussion of politicaland economic tra-

jectoriesand social relationsduringthe historicalperiods which constitute the

"deepbackground"(7) to the millenarianfervorobserved in ruralBrazil sincethe late18oos.For instance,the work claims to map the transformationof mil-

lenarianism from an ideology of domination by colonial elites into a populardiscourseof resistanceamongpoor backlanders.Keyto this discussion is Pessar's

elaborationalready advanced n her earlierwork--of the sacralizednature of

patron-clientties between elite and subalterngroups and the adherenceby the

ruralpoor to millenarianmovements when patronageties erode. Pessararguesthat these hegemonic understandings,based on ideasof reciprocityand the im-

portance of the divine kingdom, had been "forgedamong and between domi-

nant and subalternclassesoverthe centuries"(6). Yet, he book does not presentany compelling evidence showing how this process occurred, except for refer-

ences to generallyolder scholarshipon the colonial period (16-17). Indeed, the

colonialperiodappearsasa seeminglybenevolent time when, althoughcoercive,

patronageties "buffered he ruralpoor againstextreme deprivation" 25). This

colonial past is contrastedwith a similar generalized depiction of the unvary-

ingly negativeeffects on the ruralpoor of the broad social change occurring in

Brazil ince the mid-18oos.Here,capitalistaccumulationand land commodifica-

tion unfailinglyenrichedonly the powerful and caused them to abandon their

obligationsas patrons,which forced a turn towardsmillenarianismamong the

poor who more than everneeded the protection affordedby ideal patrons. It is

noteworthythat in creatingthis portrayalthe book does not acknowledge the

scholarshippublished since the 198osthat documents the degree of economic

agencyand autonomy enjoyedby a significantsegment of the ruralpoor in vari-

ous periodsand regionsof Brazil.

These shortcomingsaresignificant n light of Pessar's nsistence on chartingthe course of millenarianism"over several centuriesof Brazilianhistory" (225).

Moreover,they distract the readerfrom the more carefulanalysisof the Pedro

Batistamovement. Nevertheless,as a study of the complex interactions betweenthe various actorsengaged n the construction of millenarianismatSantaBrigidathis workrepresentsa remarkable chievement.

MarthaS. Santos

Universityof Denver