Prescient Science Fiction: Monteiro Lobato's 'O Presidente Negro' after 70 Years.

N

12

Cultural Context; Higher Education; Latin American Literature; Literary Criticism; Presidential Campaigns (United States); Racial Attitudes; Racial Bias; Science Fiction

For the student of American politics as well as for the student of Brazilian literature and culture, a close reading of a 70-year old Brazilian science fiction novel could provide some insights into the ongoing presidential campaign in the United States. In 1925, one of Brazil's most popular writers, Jose Bento Monteiro Lobato, wrote a novel called "O Presidente Negro" ("The Negro President"). The scenario involved a Black candidate who was running for President of the United States, although it was set far in the future in the year 2228. The central conceit around the story is that there is a 3-way race for President of the United States with the president running for re-election against a female candidate from the "Feminist Party" and a brilliant, cultivated Black man running as an independent candidate. The novel is elaborated as a story-within-a-story. The protagonist, Ayrton, has a car accident in the Brazilian countryside and is rescued by a mysterious inventor-philosopher who takes him back to his singular residence, a sort of castle in a utopian setting, where Ayrton is nursed back to health by the inventor's daughter. She shows Ayrton an invention of her father's which sees into the future--in this case, the United States election. The parallels between the possible candidacy of Colin Powell and the situation in the novel are intriguing. And for Americans, the way the country is seen by other cultures is always eye-opening. (Includes 13 notes.) (NKA)

1996

ED392061