A Decade of Soviet Scholarship in Brazilian History: 1958-1968
Vcan history suggests a healthy broadening of scholarly horizons. Initial surveys by Western Hemisphere scholars have provided useful introductions to a rapidly expanding Soviet bibliography in this and other related fields, as well as guidelines for further investigation.' These studies have also given rise to potentially advantageous intellectual debate between Latin Americanists of two opposing historical views.2 In the main, however, they have placed undue stress on the political and ideological aspects of Soviet writings, to the neglect of scholarly considerations. Given these shortcomings in the available critical literature, together with the growing interest of American scholars in the activities of their Russian colleagues, a more considered appraisal of Soviet contributions to Latin American historiography seems now in order. In recent years Soviet researchers have made numerous contributions to the study of Latin American history. The growing quantity of articles, monographs and edited works currently appearing in the USSR graphically attests to this fact.3 The quality of this scholarship is uneven, and it has made few solid interpretative contributions. Of ultimately greater significance, however, is the very recognition of Latin American history by the Soviet academic community as a