“Leather-hard”: Considerations on the Portuguese heritage in Brazilian colonial society in the works of Sérgio Buarque de Holanda - DOI: 10.4025/actascihumansoc.v30i1.5105

Abstract

This article analyzes the conceptions of Sérgio Buarque de Holanda about the colonization of Brazil. The historian understands the formation of the colonial society as a physical and psychological construction, possible thanks to the ‘social type’ assumed by the conquering Portuguese in the period of the great discoveries. Sérgio Buarque, contrasting Portugal and Holland, affirms that the latter country had the same motivations as Portugal when colonizing Brazil, without, however, succeeding. He understands that, more than an answer to the new economic demands, the formation of Brazil and of the Brazilians was possible as a result of the mentality that made up the character of the Portuguese. To try and understand the Portuguese settler, understanding that he had the lead role in our first social formation, will be our objective in this study.