Abstract

SAVARINO, Franco. GAME OF ILLUSIONS: BRAZIL, MEXICO AND LATIN AMERICAN "FASCISMS" IN RELATION TO ITALIAN FASCISM. hist.crit. [online]. 2009, n.37, pp.120-147. ISSN 0121-1617.

This essay analyzes the relationship between the experience of Italian fascism and its homologues in Latin America (especially in Brazil and Mexico) during the interwar period. The main goal is to highlight the many ambiguities, uncertainties, and erroneous readings that occurred in both directions, particularly on the Italian side, during this period. By mapping out the points of overlap and, especially, separation, we gain a more complex picture of the influence and diffusion of Italian fascism in Latin America, including some cultural and ideological elements, among other aspects. In this way, it is possible to detect the limits in which a genuine fascism was expressed and propagated -compared to indigenous phenomena in Latin America, such as dictators and some nationalist political movements- and thus more precisely define how the category "fascism" should be used in the region.

Keywords : Fascism; Nationalism; Italy; Latin America; Interwar Period.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )