MONMOUTH, Ill. — Amy Caldwell de Farias, assistant professor of history at Monmouth College, has revised her doctoral disseration into the recently published book, “Mergulho no Letes.”

In English, the complete title of her book is “Immersion in the River Lethes: A Politico-Historical Reinterpretation of the Confederation of Equator.” The “Confederation” revolt occurred in the northeast of Brazil in the early 1800s, and its main goal was to contest the centralizing and despotic power of the newly formed Brazilian monarchy.

“My main objective was to analyze the historical, cultural and ideological dimensions of the various texts produced by the intellectual leaders of the rebellion in order to reveal their variegated meanings for the local historical community,” said de Farias, who began teaching at Monmouth in 2005. “My methodology consisted of the deciphering of the rhetorical codes used by journalists and pamphleteers in order to illustrate their production of a new political idiom of civil liberty, which was used to sustain the battle against the nefarious power of the monarchy.

As a result, de Farias said, she was able “to untangle the revolt from the official historiography and elaborate an alternative view of the Confederation of Equator, one that better illustrated the dissident voices of the rebels.”

A noted historian from Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Falcon, wrote in the book’s preface that de Farias’ study was “an audacious reinterpretation” of the revolt, and that the result was “brilliant and creative.”

“It was extremely challenging to write this book, and I am very pleased that it has been so well accepted by the Brazilian academic community,” said de Farias, who lived and worked in Brazil from 1992-2002. In addition to her Ph.D. in Iberian and Latin American history from Catholic Pontificate University, she holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Manchester College and a master’s in Latin American history from Indiana University

de Farias said that her 228-page “Mergulho no Letes” can be purchased online at any international book dealer for about $20.

Released by the Office of College Communications
Barry McNamara, Associate Director of College Communications
Phone: 309-457-2117
Fax: 309-457-2330