Empire of Brazil
Literature and theater

In the first years after independence, Brazilian literature was still heavily influenced by Portuguese literature and its predominant Neoclassical style. In 1837, Gonçalves de Magalhães published the first work of Romanticism in Brazil, beginning a new era in the nation. The next year, 1838, saw the first play performed by Brazilians with a national theme, which marked the birth of Brazilian theater. Until then themes were often based on European works even if not performed by foreign actors. Romanticism at that time was regarded as the literary style that best fitted Brazilian literature, which could reveal its uniqueness when compared to foreign literature. During the 1830s and 1840s, "a network of newspapers, journals, book publishers and printing houses emerged which together with the opening of theaters in the major towns brought into being what could be termed, but for the narrowness of its scope, a national culture".

Romanticism reached its apogee between the late 1850s and the early 1870s as it divided into several branches, including Indianism and sentimentalism. The most influential literary style in 19th-century Brazil, many of the most renowned Brazilian writers were exponents of Romanticism: Manuel de Araújo Porto Alegre, Gonçalves Dias, Gonçalves de Magalhães, José de Alencar, Bernardo Guimarães, Álvares de Azevedo, Casimiro de Abreu, Castro Alves, Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, Manuel Antônio de Almeida and Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay. In theater, the most famous Romanticist playwrights were Martins Pena and Joaquim Manuel de Macedo. Brazilian Romanticism did not have the same success in theater as it had in literature, as most of the plays were either Neoclassic tragedies or Romantic works from Portugal or translations from Italian, French or Spanish. After the opening of the Brazilian Dramatic Conservatory in 1845, the government gave financial aid to national theater companies in exchange for staging plays in Portuguese.

By the 1880s Romanticism was superseded by new literary styles. The first to appear was Realism, which had among its most notable writers Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis and Raul Pompeia. Newer styles that coexisted with Realism, Naturalism and Parnassianism, were both connected to the former's evolution. Among the best-known Naturalists were Aluísio Azevedo and Adolfo Caminha. Notable Parnassians were Gonçalves Crespo, Alberto de Oliveira, Raimundo Correia and Olavo Bilac. Brazilian theater became influenced by Realism in 1855, decades earlier than the style's impact upon literature and poetry. Famous Realist playwrights included José de Alencar, Quintino Bocaiuva, Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, Júlia Lopes de Almeida and Maria Angélica Ribeiro. Brazilian plays staged by national companies competed for audiences alongside foreign plays and companies. Performing arts in Imperial Brazil also encompassed the staging of musical duets, dancing, gymnastics, comedy and farces. Less prestigious, but more popular with the working classes were puppeteers and magicians, as well as the circus, with its travelling companies of performers, including acrobats, trained animals, illusionists and other stunt-oriented artists.
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