ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on certain elements of mid-Victorian imperialism through a consideration of the Portuguese-language literature surrounding the Christie Affair, a diplomatic imbroglio in the early 1860s that nearly provoked a war between Britain and Brazil. It also focuses on three short plays produced in 1863 and 1864 in reaction to the Christie Affair. The plays give an indication of the degree to which Brazil believed itself tied to Britain in proto-colonial and economic terms, as well as the way in which Brazil invoked notions of indebtedness in order to resolve internal struggles over cultural self-definition and national redefinition. On the Brazilian side, however, the outbreak of the Christie Affair fostered a series of extraordinary plays designed to rouse a sense of nationalism among the urban middle classes and organized around rhetorical, if not actual, opposition to Britain as Portugal's replacement in colonial-style commercial relations.
