Description
- Abstract:
- This study discusses, in a comparative context, the representation of Brazil and (more specifically) Amazonia in North American literature, evaluating the different forms in which Ann Patchett, Candice Millard, John Updike, Karen Yamashita, and William James describe a country that is significant in terms of its size, natural resources, and social and racial complexities. It analyzes the concept of the “exotic” as defined by Moacyr Scliar, Elizabeth Bishop, Judith Butler, Roger Célestin, and Renata Wasserman, and examines the various ways in which this conception is manifested in the texts, primarily when characters dive into the world of the unknown and of the dissimilar. These North American authors mention Brazilian writers that served as their inspiration or express their admiration for elements of Brazilian culture with which they became familiar during visits to the country or when they lived in Brazil. While the majority of the texts explores the aesthetic of violence as a form of exoticism, the narratives in which authors have a deeper knowledge of Brazil present characters that question and subvert the concept of the exotic. The result is a literary “journey” of many routes and various configurations.
- Este estudo discute de forma comparativa a representação do Brasil e, mais especificamente da Amazônia, na literatura norte-americana, avaliando as diferentes formas como Ann Patchett, Candice Millard, John Updike, Karen Yamashita e William James descrevem um país significante em tamanho, recursos naturais e complexidades sociais e raciais. Analisa o conceito do "exótico" como definido por Moacyr Scliar, Elizabeth Bishop, Judith Butler, Roger Célestin e Renata Wasserman e examina as várias maneiras com que essa concepção se manifesta nos textos, principalmente quando os personagens mergulham no mundo do desconhecido e do dissimilar. Esses autores norte-americanos mencionam escritores brasileiros que lhes serviram de inspiração ou expressam sua admiração por elementos da cultura brasileira com os quais se familiarizaram durante visitas ao País ou quando moraram no Brasil. Enquanto a maioria dos textos explora a estética da violência como uma forma de exotismo, as narrativas em que os autores têm um conhecimento mais profundo do Brasil apresentam personagens que questionam e subvertem o conceito do exótico. O resultado é uma "viagem" literária de muitos percursos e várias configurações.
Citation
Barbosa, Maria José Somerlate,
"Un/faithful companions: North-American authors construing the Amazon through their Brazilian counterparts"
(2014).
BRASIL/BRAZIL: A Journal of Brazilian Literature.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/3dey-g353
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BRASIL/BRAZIL: A Journal of Brazilian Literature
...BRASIL/BRAZIL: A Journal of Brazilian Literature (ISSN: 2526-4885), founded in 1988, publishes scholarly articles on Brazilian literature and in Comparative Literature with a focus on Brazilian literature, as well as book reviews, interviews with writers, English-language translations of Brazilian literature …