Article: "BORN UNDER THE CRUEL RIGOR OF CAPTIVITY, THE SUPPLICANT LEFT IT UNEXPECTEDLY BY COMMITTING A CRIME": CATEGORIZING AND PUNISHING SLAVE CONVICTS IN BRAZIL, 1830-1897*

No presídio [de Fernando de Noronha] o bandido [Zé Moleque] criara fama de boa pessoa, de trabalhador. Os seus roçados de farinha eram sempre os maiores e nunca estiverà em cela, nunca dera o que fazer aos diretores.1

José Lins do Rego, A Usina, 1936

In José Lins do Rego's 193 6 novel, A Usina (the sugar refinery), the penal colony of Fernando de Noronha Island emerges as an incongruous utopia. The novel's young black protoganist Ricardo serves a three year sentence there as a result of his involvement in a Recife labor strike. Upon his return, he is disillusioned by what he finds on the mainland. He recalls his penalcolony stint with a mixture of nostalgia and shame, especially the ...

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