A Form for the Masses! The Brazilian Process of Politicization in Patrícia Galvão's Parque Industrial

ABSTRACT:Patrícia Galvão's Parque Industrial: romance proletário (1933) is a study of the politicization of the masses at the very beginning of Getúlio Vargas's populism. In this piece, I analyze the ways in which the novel intervenes in the incipient getulismo, destabilizing its political logic by negating two of its key elements: nationalism and strong personal leadership. Then, I parse the novel's political counterproposal by examining how it aesthetically works through the ambiguous relationship between the proletariat and the masses. In doing so, I propose that the novel presents us with an aesthetic of the masses that exposes the masses' political nature. Finally, I argue that Parque Industrial's political and aesthetic project displays an essential problem that both the Left and Vargas were facing: how to give political form to the masses.