ABSTRACT
Brazilian Fascism reveals a preoccupation with the aesthetic rather than militaristic. Fascism in Brazil was uniquely Brazilian – a mixture of modern European influences and local and cultural traditions. Nevertheless, the male physique was central to this Fascism, too. The various Fascist festivals were ‘testimonials to the body’s imperative in political life’. This essay shows that although a preoccupation with sport was common to all Brazilian Fascist groups, it was less an ideological preoccupation than an aesthetic enterprise reinforcing unity through the theatrical. Body and spectacle combined to fuse élite and mass into a totalitarian community.
