“Do we have bulls”? Bullfights in 19th-Century Rio de Janeiro (1840-1852)

Abstract

In the mid-nineteenth century a new social dynamism emerged in Rio de Janeiro, marked by changes in mass entertainment. Among the novelties were bullfights, a practice that actually had existed in Brazil since the seventeenth century. This study discusses the resumption of bullfighting in this city, between 1840 and 1852, and addresses its historical antecedents, notably tensions concerning the occupation of public space, a debate related to the ideas and imaginary of modernity.