{"id":515739,"date":"2024-07-17T15:43:54","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T18:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=515739"},"modified":"2024-07-17T15:43:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T18:43:54","slug":"goncalves-diass-legacy-goes-beyond-nationalist-indianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/goncalves-diass-legacy-goes-beyond-nationalist-indianism\/","title":{"rendered":"Gon\u00e7alves Dias’s legacy goes beyond nationalist Indianism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brazilian poet Gon\u00e7alves Dias (1823\u20131864), described by the sociologist Gilberto Freyre (1900\u20131987) as \u201chalf Portuguese, half cafuza [of mixed Indian and African heritage],\u201d was sent to Coimbra at the age of 15 to study law. It was in the Portuguese city in July 1843 that under the influence of European romanticism, he wrote the famous poem \u201cCan\u00e7\u00e3o do ex\u00edlio\u201d (\u201cExile song\u201d), expressing his longing for his home country. Upon returning to Brazil in 1845, however, the young man realized that he was not in the paradise of palm trees and birdsong that he had written about in his poem, but in a slave system that in his view, needed to be overthrown. \u201cBlack men\u2019s hands are bound by long iron chains, the rings linked from one to the next, eternal like their curse passed from father to son,\u201d he wrote about monarchical Brazil in the text \u201cMedita\u00e7\u00e3o\u201d (\u201cMeditation\u201d), published in Guanabara<\/em>, Brazil\u2019s most important Romantic magazine, in 1850.<\/p>\n

Called \u201cthe first abolitionist cry of Brazilian poetry,\u201d by fellow poet Manuel Bandeira (1886\u20131968), \u201cMeditation\u201d reveals a little-known critical aspect of the author who was a key figure in Brazilian Indianism in the mid-nineteenth century, alongside Jos\u00e9 de Alencar (1829\u20131877). \u201cMuch of Gon\u00e7alves Dias’s work was overlooked by the critics, who only paid attention to ‘Exile song’ and his Indianist poems. But he only wrote 14 poems on this topic,\u201d says Wilton Jos\u00e9 Marques, professor of Brazilian literature at the Federal University of S\u00e3o Carlos (UFSCar). \u201cHis work is much greater than that. He was a Romantic poet in the broad sense of the word,\u201d continues the scholar, who edited the book A ideia com a paix\u00e3o: Gon\u00e7alves Dias pela cr\u00edtica contempor\u00e2nea <\/em>(The idea with the passion: Gon\u00e7alves Dias in contemporary criticism; Alameda, 2023) together with Andr\u00e9a Sirihal Werkema, professor of Brazilian literature at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).<\/p>\n

The book is a collection of 12 articles about the poet’s life and work. In one of the texts, Ana Karla Canarinos, also a literature professor at UERJ, interprets \u201cMeditation\u201d as a precursor of Brazilian sociological essays. According to the scholar, the poetic prose foretold discussions about the effects of slavery on the country\u2019s formation that only began in the following century by intellectuals such as Gilberto Freyre and the sociologist S\u00e9rgio Buarque de Holanda (1902\u20131982). \u201cGon\u00e7alves Dias called for the end of slavery long before abolitionists like Joaquim Nabuco [1849\u20131920],\u201d says Canarinos.<\/p>\n

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Brazilian National Library Archive<\/span>In 1850, Gon\u00e7alves Dias published the text \u201cMedita\u00e7\u00e3o\u201d (\u201cMeditation\u201d) in the magazine Guanabara <\/em>Brazilian National Library Archive<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt is a virulent text, with an extremely negative view of Portuguese colonization and the Brazilian political elite,\u201d adds Marques, who also wrote the book Gon\u00e7alves Dias: O poeta na contram\u00e3o <\/em>(Gon\u00e7alves Dias: The poet who went against the grain; EdUFSCar, 2010), published with funding from FAPESP. According to the researcher, the excerpts of \u201cMeditation\u201d that contained scathing criticisms of politicians from the Regency period only came to light when more of his work was published posthumously in 1868 and 1869. This is because Romantic writers generally did not want to risk dealing with the thorny issue of slavery, since many maintained mutually beneficial relationships with the government\u2014Gon\u00e7alves Dias included. In 1849, the poet was awarded the Imperial Order of the Rose by Dom Pedro II (1825\u20131891) for his work leading the Guanabara <\/em>magazine, which he founded together with the writers Manuel de Ara\u00fajo Porto-Alegre (1806\u20131879) and Joaquim Manuel de Macedo (1820\u20131882). At around the same time, he became the first history professor in Brazil at Col\u00e9gio Pedro II, Rio de Janeiro, and dedicated his unfinished Indianist epic Os<\/em> Timbiras <\/em>(The Timbiras<\/em>; 1857) to the monarch. \u201cGon\u00e7alves Dias fell in love with the emperor, with whom he had an ambiguous relationship. He could not openly criticize the government, because he was supported by it,\u201d Canarinos says of the author, whose bicentenary was celebrated in August last year.<\/p>\n

The editors of the collection believe the sparse festivities surrounding the date\u2014with the exception of the state of Maranh\u00e3o, which celebrated the anniversary with a series of events\u2014fail to reflect his importance to Brazilian culture. In Werkema’s opinion, one of the reasons Dias gets forgotten is that the stereotype of the country forged in poems such as \u201cExile song\u201d and \u201cI-Juca Pirama\u201d does not resonate in the twenty-first century, when topics such as decolonialism and the deconstruction of the nation-state are being discussed in the field of literature. \u201cThis ‘clich\u00e9 of Brazilianness’ may bother contemporary readers because it obfuscates the genocide and cultural erasure of Indigenous peoples,\u201d she states. \u201cBut judging a nineteenth-century man by current ethical and moral standards equally risks erasing his contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Werkema, Gon\u00e7alves Dias had several talents. In addition to being a poet, he was a playwright and a traveling researcher, for example. \u201cHe thought about the Indigenous issue not only in a literary way, but also in an ethnographic way [see<\/em> Pesquisa FAPESP issue n\u00ba 179<\/em><\/a>]. He carried out several studies on the subject at the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute, including writing the Diciona\u0301rio da li\u0301ngua tupi, chamada li\u0301ngua geral dos indi\u0301genas do Brasil <\/em>[Dictionary of the Tupi language, known as the general language of the Indigenous people of Brazil; 1858],\u201d says Marques. He was also part of the Imperial Scientific Commission (1859\u201360), together with geologists, geographers, astronomers, zoologists, and botanists, having visited Cear\u00e1 and Amazonas. On that occasion, he even sent ethnographic objects to Rio de Janeiro, which were later incorporated into the National Museum.<\/p>\n

Leonardo Davino de Oliveira, a literature professor at UERJ, says \u201cExile song\u201d set in stone an image of Brazil that went beyond literature. The poem, which is extremely musical, was written in redondilhas (a traditional Portuguese verse form of five or seven syllables per line) and without adjectives. It is the opening poem in Primeiros cantos<\/em> (First chants; 1846\u201347), Gon\u00e7alves Dias\u2019s debut book. Its verses were incorporated into the national anthem and are part of the collective memory of Brazilians. \u201cIn that post-Independence era, our colors, our fauna, our flora were sung with jingoism, to set us apart from our colonizers,\u201d explains the researcher.<\/p>\n

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Gilberto In\u00e1cio Gon\u00e7alves\u2009\/\u2009Personal Archive | Wikimedia Commons<\/span>The poem \u201cExile song\u201d inspired a carnival march in the 1930s, performed by Carmen Miranda, as well as the song \u201cMargin\u00e1lia II,\u201d one of the tracks on the album Gilberto Gil<\/em> (1968)Gilberto In\u00e1cio Gon\u00e7alves\u2009\/\u2009Personal Archive | Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In the twentieth century, however, the poem became a \u201cproblem\u201d for popular writers and composers tasked with constructing Brazil\u2019s national identity: parodies and reinterpretations were created by authors such as Oswald de Andrade (\u201cMinha terra tem palmares\u201d [\u201cMy land has palm trees\u201d]), Murilo Mendes (\u201cMinha terra tem macieiras da Califo\u0301rnia\/ onde cantam gaturanos de Veneza\u201d [\u201cMy land has apple trees from California\/ where Venetian finches sing\u201d]), Carlos Drummond de Andrade (\u201cUm sabia\u0301\/ na palmeira, longe\u201d [\u201cA thrush\/ on the palm tree, far away\u201d]), and Ferreira Gullar (\u201cMinha amada tem palmeiras\/ Onde cantam passarinhos\u201d [\u201cMy beloved land has palm trees\/ Where the birds sing\u201d]). \u201cThe modernists of the twentieth century had a critical view of the nineteenth century and revised Gon\u00e7alves Dias\u2019s poem countless times,\u201d says Oliveira, whose book examines the ripples of Gon\u00e7alves Dias\u2019s famous verses that spread through Brazilian popular music.<\/p>\n

They are present, for example, in the march \u201cMinha terra tem palmeiras\u201d [\u201cMy land has palm trees\u201d], which was a major hit at the 1937 carnival. Written by the duo Jo\u00e3o de Barro (1907\u20132006) and Alberto Ribeiro (1902\u20131971), the song was performed by Carmem Miranda (1909\u20131955). Or in \u201cMargin\u00e1lia II\u201d (1968) by Gilberto Gil and Torquato Neto (1944\u20131972), a song written in the midst of counterculture and the military dictatorship (1964\u20131985), with the lyrics: \u201cMinha terra tem palmeiras\/ onde sopra o vento forte\/ Da fome, do medo e muito\/ Principalmente da morte\u201d (\u201cMy land has palm trees\/ where the wind blows strong\/ Hunger, fear, and much more\/ Mainly of death\u201d). In 1984, toward the end of the military dictatorship, singer Gal Costa (1945\u20132022) recorded \u201cAve Nossa,\u201d written by Beu Machado and Moraes Moreira (1947\u20132020): \u201cMinha terra tem pauleira\/ Desencanta e faz chorar\/ Mas tem um fio de esperan\u00e7a\/ Quando canta e quando dan\u00e7a\/ No assobio do sabi\u00e1\u201d (\u201cMy land has palm trees\/ It disenchants you, makes you cry\/ But there is a thread of hope\/ When it sings, when it dances\/ To the song of the thrush\u201d). In the article, Oliveira also notes that the poem lent its name to the 1984 album Can\u00e7\u00e3o do ex\u00edlio <\/em>(\u201cExile song\u201d) by samba artist Paulo Diniz (1940\u20132022) and the 1987 song by Ubiratan Sousa and Souza Neto, recorded by singer Alcione to the Maranh\u00e3o rhythm of the Creole drum. \u201cIt is a poem that speaks to everyone who feels outcast to some extent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In November 1864, a ship left the port of Le Havre in France, heading to Brazil with Gon\u00e7alves Dias aboard after another stay in Europe. Before it could reach its destination, it sank off the northeastern coast of Brazil. The author was unable to fulfill his desire to spend the last days of his life in his homeland, as he wrote in the verses \u201cN\u00e3o permita Deus que eu morra\/ sem que volte para l\u00e1\u201d (\u201cGod don\u2019t let me die\/ Before I go back\u201d). Already in poor health at the age of 41, the poet was the only victim of the disaster, although the original work of The Timbiras<\/em> may also have been lost, as was\u2014supposedly\u2014most of the ethnographic work he did for the Imperial Scientific Commission.<\/p>\n

Years later, he would be honored by Brazilian writer Machado de Assis (1839\u20131908) with a long poem in which a \u201cvirgin Indian woman\u201d sings a funeral song for the poet. \u201cMorto, e\u0301 morto o cantor dos meus guerreiros! Virgens da mata, suspirai comigo!\u201d (\u201cDead, the singer of my warriors is dead! Virgins of the forest, mourn with me!\u201d), he wrote in \u201cGon\u00e7alves Dias,\u201d from the book Americanas <\/em>(1875). In 1901, a bust of the Maranh\u00e3o native was inaugurated at the Passeio P\u00fablico park in Rio de Janeiro, at which time Machado de Assis declared: \u201cThe song is in all of us, like the other songs that he spread through life and the world [\u2026] everything that the elderly hear in their youth, and the younger ones continue to hear, and those that come next will hear, and so it will continue, while the language that we speak is the language of our destinies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Poet from Maranh\u00e3o worked in several areas and wrote texts that preceded discussions about the effects of slavery on Brazil\u2019s formation","protected":false},"author":734,"featured_media":515748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[245,248],"coauthors":[4472],"class_list":["post-515739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanities","tag-literature","tag-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":515757,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515739\/revisions\/515757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515739"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=515739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}