Brazil and Renaissance: interfaces



Brazil and Renaissance: interfaces

Área de Concentração: Ciências Humanas

Autor: Leonardo Ferreira Kaltner

Titulação: Doutor em Letras Clássicas (Ph. D.)

Instituição em que atua: Universidade Federal Fluminense (Professor Adjunto da Faculdade de Educação)

Brazil was colonized in sixteenth sentury, the modern age of European Renaissance. Officially, the date of discovery of Brazil, April 22, 1500, is a reference derived from a letter of Pero Vaz de Caminha notary of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, Portuguese navigator and captain of the expedition which discovered Brazil. However, colonization of Brazil takes root just after the year 1549, when Tomé de Souza was sent by Portuguese Crown as Governor. In the same year, the first Jesuit priests had come to Brazil or the Novus Mundus, i.e. the New World.

The works of Manuel da Nóbrega one of the most important Jesuit priests who lived in Brazil during Sixteenth Century reveal the importance of Catechism instrucion for indians to the establishment of the colony. Moreover, in sixteenth century, Jesuits founded schools in Brazil as the Colégio da Bahia. The city of São Paulo was originally a Jesuit school founded on January 25, 1554. These schools had reproduced the humanistic education of the Real Colégio das Artes de Coimbra one of the most important Portuguese centers of studies during sixteenth century. The study of classical Latin language and literature was diffused in the New World by Jesuit priests, and José de Anchieta, a young Jesuit, wrote in Latin the first Brazilian book, the epic poem De Gestis Mendi de Saa.

The epic poem De Gestis Mendi de Saa (The facts of Mem de Sá) was published in 1563 by João Álvaro, typographic, in the city of Coimbra. The cover of this book shows a dedication of José de Anchieta to Mem de Sá, third Governor of Brazil: Excellentissimo, singularisque fidei ac pietatis Viro Mendo de Saa, australis, seu Brasillicae Indiae Praesidi praestantissimo (To the most excellent hero Mem de Sá, man of singular faith and piety, most estimated Governor of Brazilic India, or South India).

José de Anchieta was the first Brazilian literary writer. His literary works were written in four languages: Latin, Spanish, Portuguese and Tupi, an indian language. He wrote poems, letters, discourses and plays, and his works reveal that the origin of Brazil was linked with Renaissance education and aesthetic. The epic poem De Gestis Mendi de Saa (The facts of Mem de Sá) narrates some battles of the Governor Mem de Sá in Brazil. One of the most important battles of Brazil in sixteenth century is the combat between Portuguese colonizers and Frenchmen, on March 15, 1560 in Rio de Janeiro, and José de Anchieta narrates this combat in the book De Gestis Mendi de Saa.

The origin of Brazil was not only an economic enterprise, but also a cultural transition and a recontextualization of European values in the New World. The study of literary texts of this time would reveal us the thought and sentiments of the first Brazilians, what would help us to understand the development of the contemporary Brazil as an Occidental nation. The description of indians, their customs, and language, which was made by José de Anchieta is a good way to discover how Brazilian civilization arose.

Referências

ACTAS DO CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL ANCHIETA EM COIMBRA - COLÉGIO DAS ARTES DA UNIVERSIDADE (1548-1998). Porto: Fundação Engenheiro António de Almeida, 2000, 3 v.

KALTNER, Leonardo Ferreira. O IV Livro do poema De Gestis Mendi de Saa do Pe. José de Anchieta: a latinização do Brasil quinhentista. Tese de Doutoramento apresentada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras Clássicas da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Faculdade de Letras da Ufrj, 2008, 197 p. mimeo.

LEITE, Serafim. História da Companhia de Jesus no Brasil. São Paulo: Edições Loyola, 2004. 4v.

MATOS, Luís de. L`Expansion Portugaise dans la litterature latine de la Renaissance. Texto da Tese de Doutorado de Estado apresentado à Sorbonne. Lisboa: Calouste Gulbenkian, 1991.

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