Entre "liberais" e "déspotas"

as revoluções liberais europeias nos periódicos do Brasil de 1821

Abstract

The transition from the 18th to the 19th century was marked by political and social changes in American and European countries, connecting distant realities and enabling the sharing of experiences. The article analyzes how European liberal movements were approached by the Brazilian newspapers between 1821 and the arrival of the news of "Fico" in the provinces where they were published. The research uses quantitative data from references and excerpts of foreign newspapers, and qualitatively analyzes the texts to show how editors exposed and used the news of these movements to further political causes. During the exploration of sources, we noticed that journalists created a liberal identity to mobilize the public in defense of their own interests. This identity, based on the sharing of experiences from both sides of the Atlantic, was characterized by polarization and otherness between those they referred to as "liberals" and "despots," identities that, in 1821, were stimulated and mobilized in defense of joining the constitutionalist political movement initiated in Portugal.