Region Out of Place: The Brazilian Northeast and the World, 1924-1968

Campbell takes the concept of regional identity and blows it up, showing that regional concerns were always mediated by national and international dynamics. This rich cultural history exposes the symbolic shorthand used to depict the Northeast and grants fresh insight into how actors constructed a regional identity with a variety of audiences in mind. The case studies presented here should interest students and tap into complex debates about representation and authenticity. Region Out of Place reveals that the local concerns of northeasterners in Brazil were far from provincial, and exposes how deeply modern Brazil, even in its farthest regions, remained integrated within larger world currents. –Anadelia Romo, Texas State University

Students of regionalism have long acknowledged the impossibility of analyzing a region’s history, politics, and culture apart from the nation. What is strikingly new and significant in Courtney J. Campbell’s fascinating study of the Brazilian Northeast is her emphasis on the way the world beyond the nation served as a site for regional identity formation and as a resource for regionalists eager to demonstrate the centrality of the Northeast to the Brazilian nation and its vibrant culture. With chapters that explore such intriguing topics as wartime romances, World Cup soccer matches, and Miss Universe Pageants, Region out of Place offers not just an innovative perspective on the Brazilian Northeast but on the very question of how to understand regional identity. –Barbara Weinstein, New York University