Rui Barbosa em disputa: a memória política na República de 1946

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the reception of the work and political biography of Rui Barbosa by relevant actors of political parties during the Republic of 1946 in Brazil, namely San Tiago Dantas, Aliomar Baleeiro, Afonso Arinos de Melo Franco, Carlos Lacerda and João Mangabeira. We do not intend to reveal a “true” Rui Barbosa, but to understand the political landscape of the time seen through the eyes of his interpreters. The disputes around his personas reveal four different images of the politician: the statesman, the bachelor, the tribune of the opposition and the apostle. The investigation of the political imagery and discourse surrounding Rui Barbosa opens new vistas in the study of the Republic of 1946, such as the identification of a reformist movement that emerged in the Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro (PTB) and the investigation of the political affinities between the socialist tradition - of the Democratic Left and the Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB) - and the União Democrática Nacional (UDN).