Latineos - Latin America, Caribbean, arts, culture

Recognised as the first Brazilian written document, the impressions of Pero Vaz de Caminha upon arrival are registered in his letter to D. Manuel I of Portugal, providing a historical and literary depiction of Brazil in 1500. That letter, a Navigation Diary by Pero Lopes de Souza, and the first letter by the Jesuit Manuel da Nóbrega, immediately after the arrival of the Companhia de Jesus in 1549, are considered the first three written Brazilian documents, having been reproduced to great extent.

But perhaps the most well-know and highly regarded texts of this period, are those written by the Jesuit José de Anchieta (beatified by the pope John Paul II) who, having produced the first grammar of the Tupi language, also wrote in prose and verse, in Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, Latin and Tupi. Anchieta also composed the first epic poem of the America, De gestis Mendi de Saa, printed in Coimbra in 1595, which narrates the struggle of the Portuguese to expel the French from Rio de Janeiro. This is considered the first Brazilian poem to be printed.

It could be argued that the colonization of the Latin America from the sixteenth century onwards involved a writing endeavour as part of its religious and military efforts. Those who represented the empire had to write, describe, translate, interpret, in sum, to represent the various aspects of the new world. Print capitalism as one of the main mechanisms that made the notion of the nation-state become a realityThe political scientist Benedict Anderson who wrote “Imagined Communities”, published in 1983, pointed to print capitalism as one of the main mechanisms that made the notion of the nation-state become a reality. In the same book, he poses the question as to why Latin American colonies acquired the status of nations some hundred years before colonies in Asia and Africa, suggesting that such distinction could be related to the fact that the most commonly spoken language in the colonies in Latin America tended to be that of the colonisers, making it easier for the local population to have access to new revolutionary ideas emerging in the metropolis.

However, in the case of Brazil, another related factor should be considered: that there was not printing industry in the country prior to the arrival of the Portuguese royal family, who moved the metropolis to the colony while fleeing Napoleon’s incursion into the Iberian Peninsula. This late start is due to a policy by Portugal that forbade any publication in its colonies.

The historian Nelson Werneck Sodré in his book on the history of the printing in Brazil, argues that in places where the coloniser found a less permeable cultural form, as in the example of the Spanish America, there was a greater need to implement instruments of its own culture, namely institutions of higher education, to replace autochthonous cultural forms, such as language, by that of the coloniser.  In the reasoning of this author writing in 1966, that could explain why there were no universities in the Portuguese America, given that the autochthonous population was seen as more permeable by comparison to that of the Spanish America. However, even if one accepts that reasoning, the non-existence of institutionalised printing in Brazil seems to be based on another rationale.

Quite a few historians affirm that books in Brazil, were seen with suspicion, only naturalised when in the hands of religious scholars, while libraries only existed inside monasteries or schools. Besides, the economic stage the colony was at, founded on slave labour, did not generate the ideal conditions for the establishment of printing. There were isolated attempts to initiate printing activities in the 18th century, which the colonial authorities were quick to dismantle. Werneck Sodré gives accounts of some of those attempts, such as one in 1706 in Recife, which started being sanctioned by the local governor, but which was suppressed with the arrival of a royal letter establishing that “all printed material must be collected, and every owner and worker at any typographies must be warned against the printing or permission to print books or individual papers” (my translation).

Another of such attempts happened in 1746 in Rio de Janeiro, initiated by an ex-typographer from Lisbon who came to the colony bringing his typographic equipment in his luggage, and managing to print some pieces of work by local authors. Upon discovering the existence of the printing facilities, orders were sent from the metropolis to burn it, in order “not to propagate ideas which could be contrary to the interests of the State” (my translation). Nevertheless, the elite did have access to books which were brought from overseas and there was some scarce commercialisation of them in the country. Though, according to Laurence Hallewell’s research on the history of book sales in Brazil, in 1792 only two bookshops could be found in the capital Rio de Janeiro, as compared to 32 hair salons.

The search for a literary expression resulting from the process through which the national identity is forming, is already present in the 18th century. Part of this process is the critique of the various literary styles which arrive over the Atlantic, and are transposed rather than assimilated, with the exception of the baroque, which, as suggested by the literary critic José Aderaldo Castello, was well incorporated due to its exuberant aesthetic components. The epic poem “Prosopopéia” by Bento Teixeira, from 1601 and published in Lisbon, is considered one such example.

Printing Printing was eventually established after the arrival of the D. João’s court in 1808was eventually established after the arrival of the D. João’s court in 1808, albeit in a very restricted and censored manner, thanks to the initiative by Antônio Araújo who, while preparing the vessels for the escape from Portugal, managed to include the typographic equipment that been purchased from England for the Secretary of War and Foreign Affairs. Upon arrival, he installed a typography in the cellar of his house where Impressão Régia, the Royal Press, was officialised by King John of Portugal. The first newspaper on national territory, Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, was limited to reporting news related to the Empire.

In the same year, Hipólito José da Costa Pereira Furtado de Mendonça who was in exile in London, founded another newspaper, the Correio Braziliense. Printed abroad and initially censored by the Portuguese government, though read by some with access to it, Correio Braziliense looked at issues that affected Brazil, Portugal and England. Hipólito is considered the founder the printing industry in Brazil. Only in 1821, one year before the independence, another newspaper was allowed to circulate, the Diário do Rio de Janeiro.   

As for the evolution of literature in Brazil, it is often seen as the unfolding of the Portuguese literature, having the epic Os Lusíadas, by Luís de Camões, as a type of original model. Its trajectory has been defined by some scholars as encompassing four phases, the first one referred to as nativism, predominant in the colonial period between 16th and 18th centuries, with themes related to the local landscape. As already observed in the opening of this article, this phase is characterised by the objective to inform or document the encounter in the new found land, followed by a later and subsequent desire to express a growing affinity with what was recognised as mestiço, i.e., the product of that encounter.  The second phase is often classified as romantic nationalism, covering the imperial period between independence and the proclamation of the Republic, i.e., most of the 19th century. The Republic is then sub-divided in old and new republics, with neo-nationalism corresponding to the former, and Brazilianism, corresponding to the latter. Still, writers such as José Veríssimo would suggest that the two major moments for Brazilian literature are nativism, and nationalism after independence.

In conclusion, what can be observed in this attempt to trace the evolution of printing and literature is that the control, which encompasses the educational system, is basically in the hands of the empire and the church, a control that is only subverted by an elite who has access to printed material from abroad. The late arrival of printing in Brazil will change the scenario, but to fully grasp the extension of the transformation one must also analyse the percentage of actual readers of the production, i.e., the literacy levels in the country, levels which only recently can be described as transformative.