Domingos José Gonçalves de Magalhães, Viscount of Araguaia, was a Brazilian poet, playwright, physician and diplomat. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in Brazilian literature, and was a pioneer of Brazilian theatre.

Brazilian literature is the literature written in the Portuguese language by Brazilians or in Brazil, including works written prior to the country's independence in 1822. Throughout its early years, literature from Brazil followed the literary trends of Portugal, gradually shifting to a different and authentic writing style in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, in the search for truly Brazilian themes and use of Brazilian forms.