As duras penas: o índio na literatura e a literatura indígena

Abstract

This thesis is divided into four chapters, mostly orbiting problems concerning the Amerindian in Brazilian literature. The first chapter is a historiography covering some primary sources from what was known as “the discovery of America” to the publishing of Mario de Andrade’s Macunaíma. Specialized critics consider this rhapsody a watershed concerning the representation of Amerindians in Latin American literature. The second chapter analyses Brazilian contemporary literature, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors who explore Indigenous alterities. Critics drawn on in Chapter two include Luiz Costa Lima (2003) and Emmanuel Lévinas (2004, 2008). The third section is more critical and theoretical, revisiting several epistemological problems. Traditional authors as Compagnon (1999) and Eagleton (2003) are mentioned, as well as more contemporary authors such as Munduruku (2012), Viveiros de Castro (2016), Hunt (2002), DePasquale and LaRoque (2010), among others. The methodology uses foreign sources, but the primary sources are mostly Brazilian. Finally, the last chapter analyses Indigenous literature published outside Brazil. The first section discusses North American Indigenous literature, emphasizing the Indigenous Canadian Renaissance. In the last section, we reflect upon the roles Indians played inthe literature of Hispanic America, emphasizing Peruvian literature