This is the first global study of the single most important intellectual and artistic movement in Brazilian cultural history before Modernism. The Indianist movement, under the direct patronage of the Emperor Pedro II, was a major pillar of the Empire's project of state-building, involving historians, poets, playwrights and novelists in the production of a large body of work extending over most of the nineteenth century. Tracing the parallel history of official indigenist policy and Indianist writing, Treece reveals the central role of the Indian in constructing the self-image of state and society under Empire. He aims to historicize the movement, examining it as a literary phenomenon, both with its own invented traditions and myths, and standing at the interfaces between culture and politics, between the Indian as imaginary and real.
Tracing the parallel history of official indigenist policy and Indianist writing, this study explores the encounter between literature and politics in Brazil's Indianist movement from 1750 to 1889 and reveals the central role of the Indian in constructing the self-image of state and society under Empire.
In his introduction, Treece (Brazilian studies, Kings College, London) describes a paradox: Brazil has a national tradition of priding itself on assimilation of the indigenous tribal population, but the numbers speak otherwise (he cites the statistic that the indigenous population of the area was some five million in 1500, but fell to 100,000 by the turn of the 20th century). This scholarly study explores the complexities of the paradox by examining the history of Brazil's official policies, the sociopolitical identity of Brazil, and the "construction of a fictional Indian in the national imaginary" (the author's words). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
