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Brazilian Railway Culture
Author: Martin Cooper
Date Of Publication: Sep 2011
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-3191-8
Isbn: 1-4438-3191-3
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.

Martin Cooper is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media at the University of Huddersfield, England, and a former BBC journalist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of both the Society of Latin American Studies and the Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History.

“Melding cultural history with an incisive analysis of how today's public engages with railway museums and tourist lines, Martin Cooper takes the study of Brazil's iron roads in new directions. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in how South Americans culturally appropriated a key technology of European imperialism.”

– Prof. Colin Divall, Head of the Institute of Railway Studies & Transport History, run jointly by the University of York and the National Railway Museum, York

“This work carefully analyses the social and cultural impact of the railway on Brazil, moving beyond the familiar tropes of football and carnival. The book is an innovative and wide-ranging study of the many ways in which the railway has worked its way into and helped form the Brazilian imagination. It provides new and exciting perspectives both on Brazilian culture and on the changing role of railways in moulding modernity in different cultures.”

– Dr. Robert Howes, Research Associate in the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, King’s College, London

Price Uk Gbp: 44.99
Price Us Usd: 67.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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