Between the Myth and the Man: The Duke of Caxias and the Construction of the Modern Heroic Ideal

Abstract

This article analyzes the means by which the biographical texts develop the individualization of Luis Alves Lima e Silva (Duque de Caxias) and convert him in a national hero. The first part reviews the biographical literature and points out the moment in which this conversion to national hero took place though the formulation of a common “memory”. In the second part, the author analyzes the process which established the status of hero in the above mentioned narratives.