A Trajetória de Franz Keller-Leuzinger e a circulação e recepção de Vom Amazonas und Madeira

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyse, from the theoretical-critical perspective of postcolonial and decolonial writers such as Bhabha (2010), Cesaire (2010), Fanon (1961; 1963), Memmi (2007), Mannoni (1964), Said (1990; 2011), Quijano (2009) and others, the symbolic representations woven by German engineer and draftsman Franz KellerLeuzinger regarding the indigenous peoples of multiple regions of the Brazilian Empire, with a predominance of Amazonian groups from the Madeira River Valley. To this end, based on the theoretical assumptions of Bourdieu (1996; 2001), we investigated eller's professional trajectory, seeking to understand how the author inserted himself into the Brazilian and foreign context, mapping the institutions in which he worked and the social groups with which he interacted. Furthermore, with the support of theoretical assumptions from writers on the history of books and reading, such as Roger Chartier (1998, 2003 and 2006), Michel de Certeau (1998) and Robert Darnton (1990), we investigated how Vom Amazonas und Madeira circulated in the Brazilian and foreign publishing markets, as well as its critical reception inside and outside Brazil throughout the 19th century. As for the circulation of this travelogue, the results show that it was published not only as a complete work, in codex format, but also in fragments, with the publication of its illustrations and some of its excerpts in national and foreign periodicals and books such as Jornal do Commercio (1874), Revista Illustração Brasileira (1876), O Vulgarisador (1877), Le Tour du Monde (1874), Revue des Deux Mondes (1875), Globus (1874; 1875; 1879; 1885), Petermanns (1874), Zeitschrift Für Ethnologie (1875) and The Academy (1875). In terms of publishing history, the first edition of the work circulated rapidly through the major cultural and industrial centres of the time, with four editions in English published within a year of its publication in German. The research results also indicate that there were no printed editions of Keller's work published during the 20th century. However, in the 21st century, there has been a greater number of printed editions of the work, four of which are in German, seven in English, and only one in Portuguese. Regarding critical reception, the work has been interpreted differently depending on the context. In Brazil, it was interpreted as a symbol of national progress, while in Europe, it was viewed from an ethnographic and expansionist perspective. In the United States, the work was read with a pragmatic bias. The aesthetic value of the engravings and technical information was also highlighted, but the work also faced criticism regarding its narrative structure and translations, and was later analysed by historiography as a product of nineteenthcentury colonialism. With regard to indigenous peoples, the analysis highlights the dichotomy in Keller's discourse, which, although it mentions the ethnic and sociolinguistic diversity of these peoples, ends up reaffirming stereotypical conceptions about them.