Meetings and discounts in the works of Ferdinand denis and José de Alencar

Abstract

Considering the scope of Travel Writing in Brazil in the beginning of the nineteenth century, this study aims to demonstrate similarities and differences between Os Maxacalis, written by Ferdinand Denis and O Guarani, by José de Alencar. Denis’ style of writing wielded a fundamental contribution to the Brazilian Indianist Novel as the author introduced the idea of using local elements of nature in a literary work. Although Alencar also explored this aspect of national identity, considering Os Maxacalis as one of his references, his vision showed divergences concerning previous travel writings, especially those related to the indian figure. While the indian proposed by Alencar is submissive and tolerant of the colonizer culture, the indian version presented by Denis is reflexive and reluctant to the Europeans. The similarities and differences found in both works raised important questions which were answered based in elements such as the indian figure, identity representation and ideology: (1) would the indian image submissive to the culture and religion constitute a dialectic of colonization? (2) is it possible to connect the image of a defeated indian to Romanticism and the founding myth of identity? (3) what stereotypes are possible to be observed by using local elements or the reinsertion of the indian into Brazilian culture? At last, a theoretical background of Bruyas (1979), Bosi (1992) and Gannier (2001) was used in this research.