Literature in the Amazon
** The Brazil Institute published a two-part special report with original writings on Amazonian literature by Márcio Souza and Lúcia Sá. These reports can be downloaded at the bottom of the page, under the "Special Reports" subheading. Below is a brief summary of the event's proceedings.**
When one thinks of the Amazon, art is rarely the first thing that comes to mind. But it was the Amazon—and specifically, the bustling, ethnically diverse port city of Manaus—that gave Brazil one of its most famous contemporary poets, Thiago de Mello, and a world-renowned orchestra conductor, Claudio Santoro. Manaus is also the birthplace of Milton Hatoum and Márcio Souza, novelists whose creative work have brought renewed attention to Amazonian cultural production. While portrayed in the media either as terra incognita or a zone of violent conflict between the forces of economic development and environmental preservation, the Amazon has created vibrant literary worlds that remain largely unknown outside Brazil.
To dispel these misconceptions and highlight the richness of Amazonian culture, the Brazil Institute and the Brazilian Embassy in Washington organized a discussion on September 16, 2008, with one the most celebrated Amazon authors, Márcio Souza. Born and raised in Manaus, he is the author of picaresque, satirical novels like The Emperor of the Amazon and Mad Maria. Souza was joined by Lúcia Sá, a visiting professor of Literature at the University of Manchester, England and author of Rain Forest Literatures: Amazonian Texts and Latin American Culture, and Regina Igel, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Literature at the University of Maryland.
In "From the Amazon to Sao Paulo: Macunaima and the Native Trickster," Sá synthesizes two chapters from her book Rain Forest Literatures and reconceptualizes how indigenous texts are viewed and used in literature, seeing the texts as creative works rather than source material. Souza's issue on "Literature in the Brazilian Amazon," highlights the uniqueness of the history and culture of the Amazon and its contribution to Brazilian art.
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Brazil Institute
The Brazil Institute—the only country-specific policy institution focused on Brazil in Washington—aims to deepen understanding of Brazil’s complex landscape and strengthen relations between Brazilian and US institutions across all sectors. Read more
Latin America Program
The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more