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The Black President

Author	Monteiro Lobato
Original title	O Presidente Negro
Translator	Ana Lessa-Schmidt
Language	Portuguese
Genre	dystopian science fiction, future history, time travel
Set in	Brazil, United States
Publisher	Companhia Editora Nacional (1st edition), New London Librarium (English translation)
Publication date	1926
Publication place	Brazil
Published in English	2022
Media type	Print
Pages	274
OCLC	3638113
Original text	O Presidente Negro at Portuguese Wikisource

The Black President (originally either The Clash of the Races or The Black President or Romance of the Clash of the Races in America in the Year 2228) is a work of dystopian science fiction published in 1926 and written by Monteiro Lobato, being the author's only novel.

The main story follows the first-person narrative of Ayrton Lobo and his conversations with Miss. Jane about the United States of the year 2228, witnessed through a porviroscope, about the dispute between the Men's Party and its representative, President Mr. Kerlog, seeking re-election, and the Elvinist Party, with Miss Astor as its candidate, against Jim Roy, the candidate of the Black Association for President of the United States, and the macabre outcome of the struggle for power.

Plot

The book begins with a conversation at the London Bank between two friends who, after discussing the world, focus on the strange figure of Professor Benson, a reclusive scientist with great financial ability. We get to know the protagonist and his self-focused personality, as well as his work at Sá, Pato & Cia and his desire to rise socially by buying a car. He finally buys a Ford, but on a business trip, he gets into an accident due to his love of speed and is saved by Professor Benson's employees. After his recovery, Benson accepts him as a confidant, sending him for a walk in the open air before meeting him in his office, as a hook for the second chapter, which introduces the “strange castle” and its surroundings.

Upon his return, in Chapter III, the protagonist reveals his impressions of the strange laboratory and, when Dr. Benson arrives, we finally discover that the story is told by Ayrton Lobo. Then, in Chapter IV, lunch takes place, and we meet Miss Jane, who makes such an impression on the protagonist, and new details about the “mysterious invention”. After lunch, the story continues with Professor Benson presenting his theories on reality, preparing an intellectual basis for Ayrton Lobo, before presenting his invention. From the intellectual part, they move on to the mechanical part, as a way of continuing to create a basis of understanding.

In the office, Ayrton Lobo, already getting used to Miss Jane, learns about her family's past and that she is a second-generation Brazilian, as well as developments for the future. The story continues with new conversations between Ayrton and Jane, both about the present moment and future developments, as well as the idea of writing a novel about the future. Dr. Benson, at the age of 70 and in poor health, leaves to destroy his invention, and dies at the end of the chapter. After the professor's death, Ayrton returns to his day-to-day work at the firm, but his mind is far from there... Seeing Miss Jane again, she asks him to come back every Sunday, as it would do her good and he could learn about future history.

A week later, Ayrton returns to Miss Jane, where they discuss various questions about the origin of the USA, as well as her planting curiosity about the events of the year 2228. Between chapters XI and XIII the future situation is presented, as well as the main characters of future history: Jim Roy, leader of the Black Association and a social leader of great influence; Miss Astor, representative of the Elvinist Party, together with the theoretical basis of its ideology; and President Kerlog, leader of the Men's Party, a fusion of the Democratic and Republican Parties. The story continues with the presentation of technologies such as radio transport, but Ayrton loses most of the narrative by daydreaming about Miss Jane.

The story returns a week later when Miss Jane spends some time exploring some future themes, such as Eropolis, making Ayrton Lobo daydream, and we move on to the moments before the election with the tension in both the Men's Party and the Elvinist Party, hooking into the next chapter when Jim Roy decides, after long reflection, to put his own name in the ballot. Jim Roy transmits the password, which is discovered via espionage by the Envinist Party, which causes the group to disband and the alliance of its coreligionists with the Men's Party. Roy is elected with 54 million votes.

Composition

Narrative

Monteiro Lobato develops two timelines in his dystopia: the one between Ayrton Lobo and Miss. Jane in 1926, and the one that takes place in the year 2228, with the "story within a story” structure. The first part of the story follows Ayrton Lobo, described by Marisa Lajolo as “clumsy”, and by Filipe Chamy as someone extremely imaginative, who suffers a car accident and is cared for on the estate of Dr. Benson, a wealthy scientist, and his daughter, Miss Jane, according to researcher Carlos Minchillo, a “Sherazade”-like character, also a researcher and who doesn't think about “marriage, fashion and other “futilities”.” The second part deals with the presidential race in 2228, which aims to elect the 88th president. According to Maicon Alves Dias, the work proposes an allegorical reading of the Brazilian and American people, as well as establishing a dialectic between the two eras. Also according to Dias, the parallel between the present and the future leads each character to reflect on the reality of their time.

Alter-ego?

Authors such as Feres Júnior, Nascimento & Eisenberg 2013 present the "protagonist" of the work as being the “representative” of Lobato's “extreme views” - and therefore an “alter-ego”. However, this idea is questioned in Santana-Dezmann 2021, noting that “[...] although the lines and ideas expressed by the characters were coined by the author, they do not necessarily represent what the author thinks.” and that no character is consistently against the black population throughout the narrative, in addition to the fact that there are characters who oppose each other, with totally different ideas and worldviews, written by the same author, makes it impossible for the same author to defend all these views at the same time. Researcher Emerson Tin also agrees that it would be too superficial and simplistic to focus on decontextualized passages from the novel to accuse it of being racist, Dias says that the use of allegories means that, in hasty readings, we end up missing the author's attempt to portray his time and society and Felipe Chamy says that the author is "diluted in various forms in the fictional spheres of this work." An example of the contradictions in the characters' feelings occurs in chapter XVIII, where President Kerlog recognizes Jim Roy's merits, but concludes: “I admire you as a man, Jim. I recognize you as a brother, and I feel your genius. But as a white man, I see you only as an enemy whom I must crush...”, embracing an irrational impulse, or as described by Santana-Dezmann, the “instinct of race”, denying the “superior and rational” position defended by the “representatives of white ethnicity”. Ultimately, the existence of these irrational impulses, according to the researcher, shows how pointless artificial selection and eugenic policies are in the narrative.

Language

“[...] Words don't matter, as I said. Only the idea counts.”

— Professor Benson, in Monteiro Lobato, O Choque das Raças, Chapter V, page 44.

Santana-Dezmann 2021 begins the discussion on the language of the work with an example already seen in the opening of Chapter I, where two characters discuss human dishonesty and all the problems it causes, resulting in the exclamation: “[...] Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if a wise eugenics combated dishonesty by eliminating all dishonest people. What a paradise!” The term “elimination”, according to the researcher, while it may convey the idea of extermination, can also involve other ways of putting an end to dishonesty, such as access to education and a decent wage. As for the term “wise eugenics”, the meaning continues to be “combating dishonesty”. The researcher notes the difficulty critics have in noticing the different meanings of the same word, which ends up causing them to discard the first part of the work, due to the negative connotation the term has received from the non-specialized public, and that Lobato seeks to conceptualize how the same word can have both a specific and a generic meaning, depending on the reader's knowledge.

Afterward, the researcher explains why it is necessary to understand the internal context of the narrative and the external context of the moment in which the work was composed, and that this understanding is necessary to differentiate an adequate reading from an inadequate one. On the other hand, in Carlos Minchillo's view, the work is ambiguous and an example of the different ways in which any literary work can be read and interpreted. In Dias' view, the work contains “irony, criticism and concern for humanity and society”, something that is often seen in Lobato's children's work and in José Wellington de Souza's view, the work has a fluid style, different from Lobato's previously published short stories.

In general, according to Santana-Dezmann, the work addresses the issues of “sign”, “meaning” and “signifier” in Saussure's linguistics: the same word (or illustration) can have both a general and a specific meaning, and that there is no logical relationship between the two, and what matters in The Black President is the meaning that the words contain in each context. Santana-Dezmann also notes that terms that have fallen into disuse are given a negative connotation in the 21st century, and that a complete analysis needs to recover the meanings they had at the time the work was written. This discussion returns later, when Miss Jane and Ayrton Lobo use the terms “kinky hair” and “mulattas”, which today can be seen as filled with prejudice, but which in 1926 were common terms - something that occurs in many works written until the end of the last century - as well as recalling the experimental nature of the language in the novel. However, even in the context of the novel, the characters limit their use of slangs, such as the fact that Dr. Benson was confused by the terms “piririca” and “bear grills seal”. At another point, the concept of hatred is personified. At the end of the narrative, as a “moral of the story”, Miss Jane advocates authenticity and simplicity when writing a narrative, which, according to Minchillo, echoes Lobato's literary ideas, and Dias describes it as a resource of metanarration.

In building suspense, researcher Felipe Chamy shows that the narrator-character uses a narrative that is close to the moment of the story, dosing the information and allowing the reader to discover new environments and new information together with the protagonist. Along these lines, within the narrative, Chamy explains that Miss Jane uses the same dosage techniques to make Ayrton Lobo curious about the progress of the narrative. Chamy also notes that Ayrton's first-person account also requires a certain amount of disbelief, as everything the reader receives is based on the narrator-character's understanding. Later, Chamy considers that the "prose is a bit sloppy", that the narrator suffers from "a limited fabulation" and without "any great virtue that imposes itself", or that the reader can notice.

Themes

Metaphysics

Metaphysics, following Aristotle's definition, investigates reality beyond what the five senses can grasp, while in Kant's sense, it studies both the laws and constituent forms of reason, while grounding the speculation of realities beyond the five senses. This theme is present in the discussion between Dr. Benson and Ayrton Lobo seen below:

— Yes. Life on earth is a movement of vibration of the aether, of the atom, of whatever is "uno and primary", you see?

— I'm almost getting it. I once read a newspaper article in which a wise man proved that there is only force and matter, but that matter is force, so the two elements are one, just as the three of the Holy Trinity are also one, isn't that right?

— More or less. Names are beside the point. Force, aether, atom: arbitrary names for a single thing, which is the beginning, middle and end of everything. For convenience, I'll call this primary element ether. This ether vibrates and, depending on the degree or intensity of the vibration, it presents itself to us in forms. Life, stone, light, air, trees, fish, your person, the firm Sá, Pato & Cia: these are modalities of the vibration of the ether. All of this was, is, and will only ever be the aether.

— Ayrton Lobo and Professor Benson, in Monteiro Lobato, O Choque das Raças, Chapter V,

Aether, in reference to the element aether, is a way for Dr. Benson to present his view that life in the universe is composed of vibrations, something that, as researcher Santana-Dezmann notes, is similar to the String Theory formulated in 1960. Overall, Santana-Dezmann notes that the work is a "treatise on metaphysics" until the end of Chapter IV, with the science fiction beginning in Chapter V. One theme developed is how the future presented in the story is only a "possible future", as Dr. Benson explains that the more variables there are, the more difficult it is to predict the future:

Here, however, the elements are so simple that when the human brain writes down 2 + 2, it immediately sees the future 4. However, in a more complex case, where instead of 2 + 2 we have, for example, the Bastille, Louis 16, Danton, Robespierre, Marat, the climate of France, England's hatred beyond the English Channel, the Gallic heritage combined with the Roman heritage, a billion factors, in short, that made up the France of '89, although all this predetermined the four Napoleon, this future could not be predicted by any brain because of the weakness of the human brain.

— Monteiro Lobato, O Choque das Raças, Cap. V,

However, due to the impossibility of predicting the future, Dr. Benson says: “The future doesn't exist,” continued the wise man, “but I possess the means of producing the future moment I desire.” In other words, his time machine.

Speculative future

In the narrative, Dr. Benson's inventions unite the waves of the Aether to observe the future, with the help of a "cronizador", which allows you to select the point you want to study. To observe the future, the "porviroscope" is used, a kind of crystalline globe, described as: "[...] the apparatus that takes the anatomical section of the future, as Jane likes to say, and unfolds it into the infinite multiplicity of forms of future life, which are in latency within the frozen current.”

Miss Jane, before Dr. Benson's death, becomes the second narrator of the story by telling what she saw in the "anatomical section of the future" and after his death she starts to tell what she discovered:

• In the year 3527, the furthest the invention can reach, the white ethnic group in Europe had disappeared, leaving only the descendants of the Mongols. Ayrton Lobo reacts negatively, but is calmed down by Miss Jane: "Everything that is has a reason to be, had to be, and everything that will be will have a reason to be and will have to be."
• In the year 2200, due to the popularization of the home office, a new type of "radio transport", which allows communication by "radiated messages", similar to the modern Internet, brought an end to transport vehicles. Or, as the story goes: "Each contributor to Remember would broadcast his article from his home at a certain time, and immediately his ideas would appear in bright print in the homes of his subscribers."
• At the same period, it will be possible to transmit sensations. As an example, Miss Jane uses the purchase of a cigar: instead of ordering it and having a delivery man bring it, it will be possible to smoke it from a distance with "radio sensation".
• In 2228, "anatomical splitting" became possible, which would allow different activities to be carried out with the right and left parts of the body. However, this operation had side effects.
• At the same period, there were already "psychic" newspapers that connected the world of the dead with that of the living, and the dream theater for recording dreams.
• In this future it is already possible to hold elections remotely, which used to take 30 minutes, via "radio-transport".

After these examples, Miss. Jane chooses to tell what she calls the "drama of the clash of races" of the year 2228 in the United States, stimulating Ayrton Lobo to turn it into a novel, which, as Filipe Chamy recognizes, Ayrton embraces both as a way to reduce his inferiority complex and to win over Miss Jane's love interest, and Marisa Lajolo notes that this act reproduces the structure of Joaquim Manuel de Macedo's A Moreninha (1844).

Speculative past

In developing the basis of the Elvinist Party, Miss Jane introduces Miss Elvin, and her theory set out in "Symbiosis Unmasked", that the woman of the Homo sapiens species is actually a member of an underwater species, sabina mutans, stolen by Homo men, while the "original" women have become extinct. The success of her thesis led Miss Gloria Elvin to lead the female population in the electoral arena, with her party having 54 million female votes in the election of 2224, against 54 million votes divided between the two genders for the Black Association and, finally, 51 million for the Men's Party.

Scientific ethics

While the invention of the porviroscope is presented as a gigantic scientific breakthrough, Professor Benson refuses to present it to the public or gain any benefit from it, apart from earning the money necessary for his life and work. So, in order to prevent the invention from being abused and used as a weapon, he chooses to take the knowledge of its creation and operation to the grave. Ayrton Lobo doesn't even get to witness the "porviroscope", a machine that allows you to see into the future, working, and researcher Emerson Tin speculates whether the equipment's vision is reliable.

Black people

Returning to the origin of the American people, when the first mention is finally made of the black people, Ayrton Lobo notes that these people arrived by force, which Miss Jane considers "[...] the only initial mistake made in that happy composition." The researcher Santana-Dezmann, in her work, develops that this initial mistake, in this case, slavery in the United States and the kidnapping of human beings, as a human intervention, rather than a simple consensual migratory movement, was the mistake described by Miss Jane.

Exploring the United States of 2228, Miss Jane reveals that not only does the black population have a higher birth rate than the white population, but that they have equal access to the means of intellectual development, not forgetting to mention their high moral standards. In describing Jim Roy, or James Roy Wilde, Miss Jane first calls him "[...] a figure of exceptional stature: Jim Roy, the genial black man.", going on to describe him physically as having the "[...] athletic figure of the Senegalese of our times [...]" and that, as a way of presenting the population in general, his appearance was reminiscent of the Native Americans, who in this future were already extinct, as well as having whitish skin. Later, the work continues to highlight Jim Roy's leadership qualities, such as the fact that he brought the black population together around a single political party. The book notes that some black people also sought de-pigmentation, something seen as negative by the white population.

Jim Roy is also characterized as an obstinate and incorruptible man during his meeting with Miss Astor in Chap. XIII, and following Santana-Dezmann's analysis, all the positive characteristics attributed to Roy, who sees himself as a representative of black ethnicity and placed as opposed to white men, implicitly function as criticisms of the white male population. In Chap. XVI, in deciding to put his name forward as a candidate for the Black Association, Jim Roy recalls the entire past of his people in the United States, from slavery to abolition and the present moment, with Santana-Dezmann's analysis showing that in the narrative, members of the black population are victims of an unjust system, and that Roy's final decision is in the name of justice. Carlos Minchillo also recognizes that Jim Roy is treated positively. Formighieri notes that disregarding the political dispute, the work does not point out "any racial problem that would prevent Jim Roy from being a nation leader." The chapter where he decides to put his name in the race shows the author's awareness of the "evil exercised by the white against the black people."

Political power

In the future story, according to Santana-Dezmann, the black population's access to education and the increase in the birth rate created a scenario in which the political hegemony of the white population would be challenged, creating two distinct ideological currents: the "white solution", which aimed to expatriate the black population and "dump the hundred million black Americans in the Amazon valley"; and the "black solution", in Miss Jane's view "much more feasible", which was the division of the country, in which the South of the United States would be left to the black population and the northern region to the white population. Miss Jane describes the events of 2228 as the "year of tragedy", with Santana-Dezmann, in her analysis, noting the lack of attitudes that imply the demerit or disqualification of black characters - with criticism always falling on white characters.

With the arrival of the 2228 elections and the electoral success of the Elvinist Party, President Kerlog sought the support of the Black Association, receiving, as a condition for Jim Roy's support, that the law limiting the birth rate be eased, which, due to the political situation at the time, was accepted by the incumbent government. According to Formighieri, Kerlog sought out Roy because he recognized the possibility of an agreement with a male individual, something he didn't believe was possible when dealing with Miss Astor. When Jim Roy and Miss Astor met, there were no demands from the leader of the Black Association, but Miss Astor argued that the white male population was the enemy of both the female and black populations. Also according to Formighieri, the interest shown by the characters was only that of obtaining or maintaining power, with no regard for ideas of social equality.

When Jim Roy, in the position of president-elect, fears the risk of a major conflict in his country, and goes to President Kerlog to discuss the situation, the question of power is still present, both in the recriminations about who would be responsible for the "state of war" and whether the incumbent president would tear up the Constitution by refusing to hand over the office to the president-elect. In the end, despite the apparent peace agreement, Kerlog warns that he will not accept Jim Roy's command, which, according to Santana-Dezmann's analysis, leads to the deconstruction of the character of the "pioneers" and the white population, when Kerlog embraces his irrationality by standing up to Jim Roy, saying that "Blood does not reason...'" and that he will prefer to destroy his country to avoid leaving power in the hands of the black population, despite recognizing the genius in his opponent. With this reaction, Jim Roy decided to split the country in two. Kerlog recognizes the justice of this decision and the nobility of Roy's ideals, even comparing him to Abraham Lincoln, but announces that war between them was inevitable. Later, Kerlog recognized in Jim Roy "'...a patriot's noble soul, capable of the supreme heroism of sacrificing himself for America'".

With the election of Jim Roy, the incumbent government holds the "White Race Convention" where, over the course of four chapters, they discuss whether they should respect the Constitution and swear in the president-elect, or put the "Leland motion" into action, which, in Santana-Dezmann's analysis, is responsible for turning the narrative into a dystopia, by demonstrating the cruelty resulting from eugenics policies and Marisa Lajolo compares this motion to the Holocaust. Lajolo says that the protagonist, Ayrton Lobo, shows a "well-mannered" horror, which, in her view, causes discomfort, and in Carlos Minchillo's vision, Miss Jane reports the events of the future "without astonishment".

The theme returns after the establishment of the "Omega rays" companies that straightened frizzy hair, with great popular participation. Jim Roy went through the process, which impacted his physical and mental vigor. This comes to a culmination when President Kerlog visits him, emotionally impacted by his actions, even as he embraces his "role" as a representative of white ethnicity, breaking the ultimate news: Omega rays have the side effect of sterilization. Jim Roy is finally found dead and Kerlog is re-elected. With his re-election, the meaning of the Leland motion was revealed by Kerlog in his speech, which was received by the population with astonishment: the criminalization of artificial whitening and the authorization of the government to enforce the law - which was accomplished through the support of the Omega rays.

Eugenics

According to Santana-Dezmann, the term "eugenics" takes on different meanings throughout the narrative. At the beginning of the novel, it represented the narrator's frustration at human dishonesty and how he would like to change it. When Miss Jane goes on to tell of visions of the future, she uses this term in a regression to the formation of the United States, but in a reference to the "character" of the first settlers, when she states that: “The May flower people, who were they? Men of such temperament, such Shakespearean characters that between abjuring their convictions and emigrating to the desert, to the empty, wild land where everything was inhospitable and harsh, they didn't waver for a second." but that this formation, according to Miss Jane, included the best representatives of both ethnic groups. The book focuses solely on the black and white ethnic groups, because by the year 2228, the native peoples had already become extinct. Miss Jane's focus in using the term eugenics, according to Santana-Dezmann's, remains on the personality and character of the people who came to make up the USA, describing it as a kind of "non-Darwinian natural selection" of those who would go on to build the country.

In the discussion about miscegenation in Chap. X, as we see in the topic below, after Miss Jane presents her thesis that the division of the two ethnic groups was something positive for both, we have the following dialog:

— But that's horrible," I exclaimed in disgust. Miss Jane, an angel of goodness, defends evil...

For the third time, the girl smiled in a way that reminded me of her father.

— There is no evil or good in the play of cosmic forces. Hatred creates as many wonders as love. Love killed the possibility of supreme biological expression in Brazil. Hatred created in America the glory of human eugenics...

— Ayrton Lobo and Miss Jane, in Monteiro Lobato, O Choque das Raças, Chap. 10, Page 115

In her analysis, Santana-Dezmann notes that in this third use of the term "eugenics", it has the meaning of preserving the main characteristics of the two ethnic groups and that the term cannot be understood in the sense of extermination, because at this point in history, 50% of the American population was black. From Chap. XIX onwards, the term takes on its fourth meaning, in the context of the fictional Owen's Law, originally presented in Chap. XI, when they discuss the development of the American population and the feeling of primacy felt by the white population, which, according to Santana-Dezmann's analysis, is neither condemned nor exalted. Because of this feeling of primacy, the white population began to control the birth rate, with a law that applied to both ethnicities, because the government and its laws applied to everyone, but even so, there was an increase in the birth rate of the black population. Santana-Dezmann's conclusion at the time was that even with these laws, it was the members of the black population who had certain superior physical and moral characteristics compared to the white population. Formighieri also notes that despite these "purification" laws, the country continued to suffer from social conflicts.

In this fictional context, in order to avoid overpopulation, we see the return of the ideas of Francis Galton (1822-1911), who formalized Eugenics based on two principles: that the environment does not influence the formation of characteristics (going against the Positivism of Auguste Comte [1798-1857]) and that moral, intellectual and general abilities are hereditary. Outside of fiction, European countries such as Sweden have developed public policies based on these ideas. In the fictional context, it is only at this point in Chapter XI that the term takes on its popularly recognized meaning and, alongside the other controls, creates the apparent "utopia" that is challenged throughout the narrative - which, in Santana-Dezmann's view, is a critique of these ideas. Many critics accuse the fact that Lobato knew and read Galton's treatises as evidence of his support, while Santana-Dezmann notes that he also read Auguste Comte's treatises, an influence on the characterization of Jeca Tatu, which were the opposite of eugenic ideas.

At the point where Miss Jane positively reports the euthanasia of disabled children, or the "resurgence of wise Spartan law", the protagonist of the narrative, Ayrton Lobo, is horrified. One action of Owen's Law in the fictional context was to create a city, Erópolis, "erected in the most beautiful corner of the Adirondacks", a sort of "City of Love", to encourage reproduction among both black and white individuals.

In the conclusion of her analysis, Santana-Dezmann argues that the actions of a people who have undergone artificial selection, and who would therefore be incapable of breaking the law (in this case, the Constitution), but who nevertheless opted for the sterilization of their people, ends up presenting the narrative as a critique against the eugenic policies practiced in various countries around the world in 1926, without, therefore, presenting an apology for the extermination of the black population. On the other hand, José Wellington de Souza believes that there was a possible "enchantment" on the part of the author with the idea of negative eugenics. Ayrton Lobo, being in favor of miscegenation, is shocked by the outcome.

Bibliography

Books

This article incorporates text from these sources, which are in the public domain: Lobato, 1926, 1951a and 1951b

• Lobato, Monteiro (1926). O Choque das Raças (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1 ed.). São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional.
• Santana-Dezmann, Vanete (2021-07-21). D'Onofrio, Silvio Tamaso (ed.). Entre Metafísica, Distopia e Mecenato. Inclui a primeira edição de O choque das raças ou O presidente negro, de Monteiro Lobato. Ciência (in Brazilian Portuguese). Vol. 1 (1 ed.). São Paulo, SP: Os Caipiras. p. 325. ISBN 9786599559501. OL 49369699M.

Articles

• Bayliss, Andrew J. (2022-05-26). "4. Raising a Spartan". Oxford University Press: 59–76. doi:10.1093/actrade/9780198787600.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-878760-0.

• Dias, Maicon Alves (2009). "A REPRESENTAÇÃO DA REALIDADE EM O PRESIDENTE NEGRO, DE MONTEIRO LOBATO". Miscelânea: Revista de Literatura e Vida Social (in Brazilian Portuguese): 75–85. ISSN 1984-2899.

• Feres Júnior, João; Nascimento, Leonardo Fernandes; Eisenberg, Zena Winona (March 2013). "Monteiro Lobato e o politicamente correto". Dados (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1): 69–108. doi:10.1590/S0011-52582013000100004. ISSN 0011-5258.
• Franca, Vanessa Gomes (2009). "NOSSO JECA E NOSSA EMÍLIA VÃO AO EXTERIOR: AS TRADUÇÕES DAS OBRAS DE MONTEIRO LOBATO". Miscelânea: Revista de Literatura e Vida Social (in Brazilian Portuguese): 40–57. ISSN 1984-2899.
• Formighieri, Ana Paula de Souza (2017-05-15). "Monteiro Lobato: construção ou denúncia do pensamento racista?" [Construction or denunciation of racist thought?]. Western Paraná State University (Master's degree dissertation) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Cascável: 140.
• Ferreira, Filipe Augusto Chamy Amorim (2019-12-20). O sonho americano de Monteiro Lobato: relações Brasil-EUA na obra do escritor [Monteiro Lobato's American dream: rapports Brazil-America on the writer's books] (Master's dissertation) (in Brazilian Portuguese). São Paulo: IEB-USP. p. 203. doi:10.11606/d.31.2019.tde-19122019-123314.
• Lajolo, Marisa (1998). "A figura do negro em Monteiro Lobato" (PDF). unknown. Unicamp-IEL: 9.
• Minchillo, Carlos (2017). "Engenharia reversa em O choque das raças". In Lajolo, Marisa (ed.). Monteiro Lobato, livro a livro: Obra adulta (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1 ed.). São Paulo: Unesp. pp. 139–148. ISBN 8595460124.
• Santana-Dezmann, Vanete (2022). "Um capira no Harlem Renaissance: Monteiro Lobato" (PDF). In Santana-Dezmann, Vanete; Milton, John; D'Onofrio, Silvio Tamaso (eds.). Monteiro Lobato: Novos Estudos (in Brazilian Portuguese). Lünen-Alemanha: Oxalá. pp. 53–66. ISBN 9783946277644.
• Souza, José Wellington de (2017). "Raça e eugenia na obra geral de Monteiro Lobato" (PDF). Federal University of Juiz de Fora (PhD thesis) (in Brazilian Portuguese): 177.
• Tin, Emerson (2012-12-19). "Ficção científica no Brasil: O Choque das Raças ou O Presidente Negro, de Monteiro Lobato". Remate de Males (in Brazilian Portuguese) (2). Unicamp: 293–305. doi:10.20396/remate.v32i2.8635888. ISSN 2316-5758. OCLC 8080896683.

News

• ""O Choque"". A Gazeta (in Brazilian Portuguese). Vol. XXI, no. 6270. São Paulo. 1926-12-28. p. 3.

Talks

• "Quem fala por Lobato em O presidente negro ( 19.08.2021 ) on YouTube
• Jornada Monteiro Lobato - ENTRE METAFÍSICA, DISTOPIA E MECENATO on YouTube
• Entre Metafísica, Distopia e Mecenato on YouTube

Additional reading

About the author

• Santana-Dezmann, Vanete (2021b). "Contradições em análises da obra infantil de Monteiro Lobato" (PDF). In Santana-Dezmann, Vanete; Milton, John; D'Onofrio, Silvio Tamaso (eds.). Para compreender Monteiro Lobato: II Jornada Monteiro Lobato (in Brazilian Portuguese). Lünen-Alemanha: Oxalá. pp. 97–132. ISBN 9783946277583.
• Souza, Wellington José de (2021). "O problema vital de Monteiro Lobato" (PDF). In Santana-Dezmann, Vanete; Milton, John; D'Onofrio, Silvio Tamaso (eds.). Para compreender Monteiro Lobato: II Jornada Monteiro Lobato (in Brazilian Portuguese). Lünen-Alemanha: Oxalá. pp. 133–168. ISBN 9783946277583.

Theme

• "Brazil". Eugenics Archive.
• Mai, Lilian Denise; Angerami, Emília Luigia Saporiti (April 2006). "Eugenia negativa e positiva: significados e contradições". Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem (in Brazilian Portuguese). 14 (2): 251–258. doi:10.1590/S0104-11692006000200015. ISSN 0104-1169.

External link

• Observatório Lobato, at the Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Human Sciences, University of São Paulo