A “grande republica fundada por Washington”: : Harriet Beecher Stowe, a Guerra Civil Norte-Americana e a Escravatura Estado-Unidense em O Panorama

Abstract

Adopting an approach located within the field of imagology, the following paper examines the images of North America conveyed by two different sets of articles published by the Portuguese periodical O Panorama about Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), and the Civil War (1861-1865). While the pieces of writing that mention Stowe completely omit slavery in relation to the United States, the ones which reference the Civil War state that the conflict was caused by the North American desire to abolish its peculiar institution. In order to understand the different attitudes described above, adopted by O Panorama, the essay attempts to answer the following research questions: What type of images of the United States were created as a result of the decision to not mention slavery in association with Stowe and to not omit it in connection with the Civil War? and Why did O Panorama choose to convey such images of the United States in the Portuguese context?.