Petroglyphs in Sinaloa: An Ocean yet to be Explored (original) (raw)

2013 “The Amazonian Idol”: the naissance of a national symbol in the Empire of Brazil (1848-1885)

The Amazonian archeology awakened, throughout the nineteenth century, a lively interest in travelers passing through Brazil. In 1848, Manuel de Araújo Porto Alegre (1806-1879), Brazilian painter, caricaturist and art historian, writes the comedy A Estatua Amazonica: comedia archeologica (The Amazonian Idol: archeological comedy), which plays with such interest while gathering around a supposed Amazonian idol of great antiquity a group of scholars to speculate about its origins. In the comedy some argue that the idol is a sign that the Brazilian Empire descended from a great native civilization, others argue that the ancient Amazonian people descended from the Greeks. This paper investigates how the assumptions in this comic piece by Araújo Porto Alegre, who headed the Escola de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts) between 1854 and 1857, will be institutionalized and promoted by the Brazilian Empire between the 1860s and 1880s. Therefore, I will analyze here the Amazonian archeology surveys conducted by Canadian geologist Charles Frederick Hartt (1840-1878), Chairman of the Geological Survey of the Empire, during the 1870s, and by Ladislau Netto (1838-1894), director of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro and responsible for the Exposição Anthropologica Brazileira (Brazilian Anthropological Exhibition) in 1882. It is my interest here to investigate how the results of such archeological research, results like the archeological findings of ancient Amazonian populations, would offer a concrete symbol for the idea of the "antiquity" of the Brazilian Empire and contribute to the construction of an imperial identity, that intended to be strong and autonomous.

Racial and Linguistic prejudice in Brazil: comparisons, contrasts and anthropophagic solutions.

Racial and Linguistic prejudice in Brazil: comparisons, contrasts and anthropophagic solutions., 2020

In this article I compare and contrast how prejudicial views about race have/have not intersected with prejudicial views about Language in the history of Brazil. I examine both within Latin American discussions related to civilisation and barbarism, onto which the distinction between Educated and Popular Brazilian Portuguese maps. I focus on the work of the modernist Anthropophagic Movement and how this movement combined with subsequent developments helped to break the dichotomy civilisation/barbarism and redefine Brazilian identity and place at its centre mixed-race characteristics. I suggest that a similar movement is necessary to overcome the prejudices against popular Brazilian Portuguese. Palavras-chave: preconceito linguístico, racismo, civilização, barbárie Racial and Linguistic prejudice in Brazil: comparisons, contrasts and anthropophagic solutions.

Masquerade as Memory: Conflict as Heritage in Lavras do Abade, Brazil

This article presents a discussion about the memory of an environmental conflict that occurred in the mining village of Lavras do Abade in mid-western Brazil at the end of the nineteenth century. I introduce a study of the phenomenon called Mascarados, part of the religious festival of the present-day town, and its relationship to the previous conflict in the neighbourhood. I report several interviews I conducted about this historical disagreement with the oldest residents in the present-day town of Pirenópolis, an old rival village formerly called Meia Ponte. Finally, I discuss theories about the individual and group implications of this ‘masked memory’ and its impact on the community's archaeological, historical and environmental heritage.

“The Amazonian Idol”: the naissance of a national symbol in the Empire of Brazil (1848-1885)

The Amazonian archeology awakened, throughout the nineteenth century, a lively interest in travelers passing through Brazil. In 1848, Manuel de Araújo Porto Alegre (1806-1879), Brazilian painter, caricaturist and art historian, writes the comedy A Estatua Amazonica: comedia archeologica (The Amazonian Idol: archeological comedy), which plays with such interest while gathering around a supposed Amazonian idol of great antiquity a group of scholars to speculate about its origins. In the comedy some argue that the idol is a sign that the Brazilian Empire descended from a great native civilization, others argue that the ancient Amazonian people descended from the Greeks. This paper investigates how the assumptions in this comic piece by Araújo Porto Alegre, who headed the Escola de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts) between 1854 and 1857, will be institutionalized and promoted by the Brazilian Empire between the 1860s and 1880s. Therefore, I will analyze here the Amazonian archeology surveys conducted by Canadian geologist Charles Frederick Hartt (1840-1878), Chairman of the Geological Survey of the Empire, during the 1870s, and by Ladislau Netto (1838-1894), director of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro and responsible for the Exposição Anthropologica Brazileira (Brazilian Anthropological Exhibition) in 1882. It is my interest here to investigate how the results of such archeological research, results like the archeological findings of ancient Amazonian populations, would offer a concrete symbol for the idea of the "antiquity" of the Brazilian Empire and contribute to the construction of an imperial identity, that intended to be strong and autonomous.