"THE "The spirits of the nation": spiritism, the generation of 1870 and the "social issues" in the transition from the empire to the republic in Brazil

Abstract

Spiritism is a philosophical-religious doctrine that emerged in 1857 in France, with the publication of The Spirits' Book by "Allan Kardec", pseudonym of the French educator Hippolyte-Léon Denizard Rivail. The goal of this article is to identify how it was the emergence of the spiritist movement in Brazil and its relation with the political and cultural changes faced by the country especially after 1870, which became known as the "social questions" of the 19th century: specifically, abolitionism and republicanism. We focus on the relationship between spiritists and the spiritist movement in relation to these issues, as well as the contact of sectors of our intelligentsia - involved in the struggles to implement these changes - and the Spiritism. We draw on the analysis of texts, books and articles by spiritist authors and scholars of the subject who address this historical moment. We argue that this contact was important for these vanguards because the spiritist movement provided them with ideological and doctrinal support, and worked as a meeting space for several intellectuals of the most varied tendencies – and even political parties – who sought the doctrinal contributions of spiritism for the struggles they were engaged in.