This talk will consider how Paraguayans were introduced to both Brazilian cultural norms and material commodities in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Bridget Maria Chesterton will use food as a lens through which to understand how Brazil came to dominate the economic and cultural landscape of Paraguay. Using oral testimonies, advertising material, and restaurant reviews from Paraguayan newspapers, this conversation will elucidate Brazil's growing economic and cultural power in the Southern Cone.
Speaker: Bridget Maria Chesterton is a historian of Paraguay and the Southern Cone. Her first book, The Grandchildren of Solano López: Frontier and Nation in Paraguay 1904-1936, explores how the legacy of the 19th century dictator Francisco Solano López shaped Paraguay’s unique brand of nationalism, and she has also studied gender and Paraguayan foodways and, most recently, Brazil’s influence on modern Paraguayan culture. Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Women’s History, The Latin Americanist, Hispanic American Historical Review, and Journal of Social History.