Tupinambá: The Victims of Intolerant Europeans

Christopher Schipper

POR 204

October 30, 2013

Tupinambá: The Victims of Intolerant Europeans

            The movie Hans Staden provides the viewers with an accurate account of Hans Staden's life in 1553. By analyzing the events throughout his imprisonment by the Tupinambá people, one is able to witness the original culture shock that is felt by Staden. This exposure to the extreme difference in lifestyles can be paralleled to what all Europeans experienced during their initial migration to Brazil.  Along with this, the events that Staden lived through can be seen as a microcosmical foreshadow of the current cultural unity that is alive in Brazil.

            Despite the fact that Hans Staden did not participate in or accept the religious practices of the Tupinambá, they accepted and respected his beliefs. Although the native people were radical in their ritualistic cannibalism of enemies, they were an open minded people. They were willing to accept Staden's belief and even went as far as to incorporate his God into the events of their lives. For instance, the Amerindians requested that Staden pray to his God so that the seemingly endless rain would cease (Pereira). Adding to this, they did not force their beliefs upon him. Although Staden was completely immersed in the Tupinambá culture, they never forced him to pray to their deities or participate in their religious ceremonies. This is contrary to the stereotypical closed-mindedness of the Europeans at the time. They saw natives as a naive people led astray that needed to be converted to Christianity.

            Although the native people were violent towards their enemies, they were very hospitable to their allies. As is seen in the movie, the natives treated the French very highly and thought of them as an equal people from a different culture (Pereira). The French offered the Tupinambá and other Amerindians weapons and various other European resources for barterting; The French were not hostile towards the Tupinambá and thus they had no reason to be aggressive towards the French. These people saw the French as allies[1]. The French thought of the Tupinambá people as allies too ; however, it was not because they thought of the natives as equals. The Europeans thought of themselves as better than the natives because they viewed the natives as an underdeveloped people. On top of this, the Europeans were frightened by the Amerindians' violence towards their enemies and thus did not wish to develop a hostile relationship with them (Lecture by Dr. Gandara, 10-25-2013).

            These examples of the native's cultural acceptance of the Europeans foreshadows the future integration of the European and native people. Because of the fact that this integration began in small villages like these and eventually spread all over Brazil, it can be viewed as a microcosmical foreshadowing. An interesting feature that was unique to the film was the scene where Staden allows a runaway slave to escape and explains to him which path is the safest path to take (Pereira). By allowing the slave to escape, it reveals Staden's newfound appreciation for freedom and his revelation that slavery is wrong. Although this scene never occurred in actuality, it further broadens the microcosm to not only European and Brazilian people, but to the Africans as well. These beginning steps to accepting peoples of different races has led to what is now the cohesion of the African, European, and Amerindian people throughout all of Brazil.

            Another foreshadowing event that happens in Staden's tales is the blending of religious practices. Although Staden did not respect the beliefs of the Tupinambá, they respected his. On top of this, they incorporated Staden's deity into their own religion because Staden convinced them that their misfortunes were happening due to their intent to kill him. Likewise, their fortunes came from Staden's happiness (Pereira). They became so concerned with the power of the God that Staden worshipped that they did not only allow him to pray to his God, they occasionally requested that he pray to his God. This mixture of religion would soon sweep all of Brazil in different forms. Whether it be an African religion mixed with Catholicism, a native religion mixed with Catholicism, or a native religion mixed with an African religion, this example of religious intermingling can be seen as a foreshadowing for what would soon take place in the rest of Brazil.

            Viewing the events that happened to Staden in 1553 from an outside perspective is difficult. Without the proper knowledge of Brazil and its developmental process, any views on this story will be one-sided. When looked upon with no prior knowledge, the native people of Brazil may come across as an uncivilized, violent people. In reality, they had been practicing their cannibalistic ways long before any European influence was present in Brazil. When the Europeans arrived, the natives were accepting of them; however, the Europeans were not accepting of the natives due to their differences. Another issue with viewing these events from an outside perspective is that Hans Staden portrays himself as a completely innocent figure. In truth, Staden had been a mercenary for the Portuguese people and because of this he was an enemy to the Tupinambá people. Although the Tupinambá were prepared to kill him due to his supposed Portuguese ancestry, who is to say that a Staden would not have killed a native due to their Tupinambá descent? Being a mercenary for the Portuguese, the chances are likely that he would have killed a Tupinambá native if given the opportunity to do so. This is never mentioned in the novel or the movie due to the fact that Staden had a reputation in Europe at the time and did not want to be seen by his people as someone who was on the same level as the natives in terms of nonsensical violence.

            From my perspective, I see the clash of Staden's beliefs and ethics with those of the Tupinambá people as a beautiful display of cultural interaction. Although the native people did participate in horrifying acts of cannibalism, they were very kind to their allies and were a people that were willing to negotiate. On top of this, they were both accepting and tolerant of outside religions and cultures. As is seen in the movie, although reluctant, the natives were willing to give Staden to the French in exchange for various weaponry (Pereira). Their religious tolerance can be seen in their allowance of Staden's setting up of a cross in their village even before they believed that his God was powerful enough to protect him. Although he was reluctant to trust them, Staden eventually joined the natives on hunting missions; however, he never fully integrated into their society due to the fact that he was constantly on edge because the natives could kill him at any given moment and eat him at their next ceremony. Due to this lack of integration, Staden continued to discriminate against the natives. However, history proves that the European people eventually accept the natives and discrimination between the races comes to be less accentuated.

            Whether it be through their acceptance of outside religions or their hospitality towards their allies, the open-mindedness of the Amerindians can be seen in Hans Staden's telling of the events of his life in 1553. This openness acts as a microcosm that foreshadows what soon occurs throughout Brazil: equalization of all ethnicities. Although his accounts do not reveal anything in terms of the acceptance of Africans, the director of Hans Staden reveals to the viewer that the Europeans eventually corrected their unjust practices of slavery through his addition of a scene that did not occur in reality. As Michel de Montaigne, an influential French writer during the sixteenth century, states: “Each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice”[2].

Works Cited

Gandara, Paula. "Class Lecture for 10-25-2013." Irvin Hall, Oxford. 25 Oct. 2013. Lecture.

Hans Staden. Dir. Luís A. Pereira. Grupo Novo De Cinema & TV (GNCTV) - Foreign      Distribution Sales Lapfilme Do Brasil and Jorge Neves Producoes Audiovisuais, 1999.    Film.

Jáuregui, Carlos A. "Project MUSE - Hans Staden's True History: An Account of Cannibal          Captivity in Brazil." Project MUSE - Hans Staden's True History: An Account of            Cannibal Captivity in Brazil   (review). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.             <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/lbr/summary/v047/47.1.jauregui.html>.

"Michel De Montaigne." Goodreads. Goodreads Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.             <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17241.Michel_de_Montaigne>.

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[1] Www.muse.jhu.edu

[2]Www.goodreads.com

Gender Roles and the Construction of Brazilian Nationalism

Patrick Campbell                                                                                                     James Clark

Gender Roles and the Construction of Brazilian Nationalism

Introduction

           Today, it is hard to identify a “pure” cultural identity as an industrialized mass culture that relies on globalization, this identity tends to be fragmented from various influences. Yet no one can dissociate the image of samba from Brazil. In fact, samba and bossa nova are immediately associated with symbols of Brazil and their cultural identity. It follows then, that no matter how much the world has changed through massively overlapping cultural borders, that this music has a purpose as a trace and a view into nationalism in Brazil. At its core, music provides an unusual lens into cultural identity. Its ethnologic elements provide a context for lived experiences and relationships, while reflecting the dynamics of political and economic issues at the time. Noel Rosa, Carmen Miranda, and Mario Andrade are very notable names in the contribution to the realm of Samba and the nationalistic image of Brazil. Noel Rosa is considered to be the father of samba and used it to show the Brazilian voice and way of life. Carmen Miranda helped bring this image to the United States so that the Brazilian image could be presented on a stage for the world to see. While Noel and Carmen both played significant roles in Brazilian identity and meshing it with that of Samba, Mario Andrade largely influence these writers to create music that was truly Brazilian so that they could share it with the western world. While both Rosa and Miranda sought to define a Brazilian identity through their music, their views regarding gender roles and audience were somewhat conflicting.

Gender Roles or Musical Impacts in Defining Brazilianness

    Noel Rosa dedicated his time to seeking out the national essence with which he would define Brazilianness. Rosa found this in samba, its musicians, and the poor areas of the lower middle class Rio de Janeiro. Noel Rosa was a particularly complicated individual in terms of gender equity. Rose thoroughly believed that women were purely distractions from that of the male dominated musical world. it would appear as though, Noel Rosa’s greatest quality is that

he has no interest in women: "When he writes a samba / it is an innovation...the brown

women of that place / live in lamentation / knowing that he does not want / to fall in love...

with a woman." (McCann, 2001: 9), this blatant, closed minded perspective completely shuns the idea that women are capable of anything other than fulfilling the role of a housewife, the Virgin Mary, or, as we know her, Amelia. Rosa’s view is so radical that it actually sets back a large amount of progress made by Chiquinha Gonzaga, whom of which we might be able to say give precedence to the achievements of Carmen Miranda.

           Carmen Miranda was a major recording star in her adopted homeland of Brazil long before most Americans had ever heard of her. Miranda, born in Portugal, clawed her way out of childhood poverty and not only was able to break into a heavily male dominated music business, but then embodied a Hollywood celebrity in the US on her way to become the highest paid women in the US in 1944 (Solberg, 1995). Miranda created a whole new image of women at the time and shattered the gender roles that Rosa had made known. “The Brazilian women who opened the twentieth century were delicate, susceptible, squeamish, always well dressed, and always feeling from men” (Gilman, 1998[1]). Miranda, on the other hand, embodied a seductive image for Brazilian women who meet men joyously while showing off her legs and cleavage.

    We see a vision of Carmen Miranda’s life in Helena Solberg’s “Bananas is my Business”, and within the film we observe the challenging of said gender roles in Samba. Solberg makes an argument about the gender roles in Brazil at the time of Carmen Miranda in many ways. In the biopic type of film, we also see a bias from the director, not that this bias makes her views incorrect or even skewed, this simply means that her depiction of Carmen Miranda cannot be absolutely certain of who she was or how she exactly lived. Solberg wanted to bring to fruition an idea that Carmen Miranda, though an angel to the American populace and the greatest “raw material” resource that Brazil had during her time, crossed many different concepts seeing as though she was the Virgin Mary, the Amelia but Carmen was also the Malandro and quite masculine. The explosion of Carmen Miranda’s popularity provided the American civilisation

She broke through the boundaries of what a woman was expected to do, as she was a samba icon, she “talked like a man”, and was not the typical housewife type. We observed in the film, “Bananas is my Business” that when Carmen was a child, she was depicted as the Virgin Mary, which is a common connection that Brazilians make with Amelia, or our housewife that does exactly what she is told and is always there to support the man, never to distract him. This depiction creates the conflict between who Carmen Miranda is in terms of how she is depicted, and how society should depict her. Chiquinha had tried to break into the music business earlier and faced numerous critics and hardships due to the fact that she was a female. Her family disowned her and she was considered a monster by others (Neder, 1988[2]). Gonzaga was recognized later on, but was not appreciated in her own time.

Cultural Identity of a Brazilian Class

In Brazil, Miranda was never considered to be part of the elite. She may have been a popular singer, who was backed by Gertulio Vargas at the time, but she interacted and drew attention from the lower Brazilian classes. The rich class did not care for her Brazilian images that concerned Africannness, as they felt she was encompassing those, “who did not matter”. Carmen was an idol to those people who the world saw as “real” Brazilians, the samba singers, the bahianos, and the black people of the northeast, all which demonstrate true Brazilian culture. She was then able to translate the black samba for a white audience. This is why Americans loved her while, the elite and wealthy of Brazil felt betrayed by her. This indicates a clash of cultures not between North and South America, but instead between classes in Brazil. However, Miranda’s image changed slightly when she moved. When Miranda went to the US, she became an oversexed, thickly-accented, living cartoon caricature. She became typecast for roles as such. With that said, she tried to resist the Americanization by speaking some Portuguese in her films and making fun of the way she spoke English. Although, successful in America (and earlier in Brazil), Miranda was scrutinized for becoming an “American” as depicted in her song, “They said that I came back Americanized”. The culture of Brazil is bathed in the idea, the image, that Carmen Miranda represents. Carmen’s tutti frutti hat, the way she performs Samba, and especially her demeanor in public, creates an interpretive function of Brazilian nationality which is quite reminiscent to the themes that Mario Andrade has been trying to portray ever since the Week of Modern Art in February of 1922 (Suarez and Tomlins).

Mario shows very similar characteristics to that of Carmen Miranda in the idea that the Brazilian culture expands beyond brackets, beyond classes, beyond the elite or the poor, the Africans, the Natives, and all other discrepancies that get in the way of the people of Brazil that unify under one nationality which is Brazilian. The media that Mario and Carmen share is writing and their works can be shared among the poor and the elite. Mario has public exhibitions of his poetry and inspires musicians to play and represent their culture in a public fashion, just as Carmen Miranda represents Brazilian culture that is easily heard by any and all who will accept her. Some might think that, in order to be exposed to Brazilian culture, one must pay nothing but this is not the case. To experience Brazilian culture, one must allocate the cost of what it truly means to be put out of a comfort zone and understand life between brackets, which is a price the entire country seems to be willing to pay. The cost of being Brazilian is a large dedication to the ideals of the local arena. In between brackets lies a culture so dependent on itself, that people would rather be oppressed by their government, starve, live in poverty, and die instead of sacrificing. Their faith in God, honor, and community is so strong that their faith in the system is truly diminished, something that American and European systems hold entirely absent.

Conclusion

    Brazil has seen a combination of many cultures throughout the years. Yet, it has always sought an image that was uniquely Brazilian. Miranda, Gonzaga, Andrade, and Rosa have all contributed to that image immensely. The influence of these Brazilians is so intense, that even today’s directors like Helena Solberg have dedicated much of their lives to constructing their vision. The music created by some of these individuals colored the narrative of Brazilians and their lives both at the individual and collective levels. It’s almost as if one can see the progression of Brazil occurring right in front of their eyes through their musical style and lyrical depiction. Music is a universal language, and is the driving force for these prominent Brazilians. However conflicting the views of their masters may have been, this has allowed gender roles to be redefined, class structures to be analyzed, and Brazil has placed its new image on the world’s stage for all to see.  

Work Cited Page

Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business. Dir. Helena Solberg.  Perf. Helena Solberg, Eric Barreto, Cynthia Adler. (1995). Film.

Gilman, Bruce. “Viva Carmen!”. (1998). Web.

http://www.brazzil.com/musjun96.htm

McCann, Bryan. "Noel Rosa's Nationalist Logic." The University of Wisconsin Press Journals Division 38.1 (2001): 1-16. Print.

Neder, Alexander. “Chiquinha Gonzaga: Artist Biography”. (1988). Web.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/chiquinha-gonzaga-mn0001918566/biography

Suarez, Jose, and Jack Tomlins. Mario de Andrade: The Creative Works. London: Associated University Presses, INC, 2000. Print.

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[1] http://www.brazzil.com/musjun96.htm

[2] http://www.allmusic.com/artist/chiquinha-gonzaga-mn0001918566/biography

Religious “Cannibalism” in Brazil

Thomas Herrick & Connor Dickey

Religious “Cannibalism” in Brazil

The idea of a kind of figurative cannibalism between cultures, as defined in Oswald de Andrade’s “Cannibalistic Manifesto,” can be seen in Luís Alberto Pereira’s 1999 film Hans Staden. Indeed, the film explicitly contains and almost centralizes around the idea of literal cannibalism, but the idea of figurative cannibalism manifests itself in a number of ways. One of the key ways it does so is through the interactions between the two different religions portrayed in the movie. The “cannibalism” practiced here is more-so on the part of the indigenous. The argument can also be made that Hans adopted certain aspects of the native religious practices while he was being held captive. However, throughout Brazil’s history it seems that other religions, and never Catholicism, were the ones to “cannibalize” and mix with opposing traditions while Catholicism merely spread certain aspects of itself into other religions; staying quite essentially the same in its own European roots.

Concepts, Theories and Assumptions

Let us first discuss the religious practices of the indigenous. In many ways, they were similar to those practiced by North American natives when colonists first arrived there. It is essentially a polytheistic belief, comprised of many gods and spirits with particular emphasis on earth, nature, ancestors, and the stars. Witch doctors play a role in summoning and contacting the spirits, whether it be for religious ceremony or for healing the sick. In Hans Staden, however, we see an interesting interplay between the natives’ religion and Hans’s. Rather than rebuke his beliefs and ignore his God, they instead readily accept the Catholic God as a real deity, especially when they believe their misfortunes are due to Hans’s God’s anger with them. They even go so far as to ask for Hans’s God’s mercy from Hans in various points of the film.

It is apparent from the start that Hans is Catholic. We see him praying to God and, before long, claiming that his God is angry with the natives for holding him captive and harming him. In one instance, Hans remarks that the moon is looking down angrily at the natives, a sign that he is using their belief in natural deities against them. In this case, he may not necessarily have believed it to be true, but the natives did. Another similar case presents itself when the sick family asks Hans to perform one of his religion’s spells which would heal them. Of course, Hans makes up a bit of a silly ritual, presumably on the spot, to appease them and ensure his safety. Again, while he may not necessarily be cannibalising the native beliefs, he is assimilating to their culture through similar practice. On the other hand, a sign of Hans’s “cannibalism” occurs when he kneels down before his cross to pray for the rain to stop. When it does, he stands up and bellows out a primal call similar to one put forth by a native earlier when a tribesman and his wife had “been healed.” In this instance, he has not necessarily taken on the religious beliefs of the indigenous, but his practice of Catholicism has taken on certain elements of the native practice.

Authors

The film Hans Staden is based off the true story of Hans Staden, a Hessian voyager. His memoir gained widespread popularity at the time of its release (1557). Its mere title suggests something of the author’s attitude towards the indigenous and his experience with them; translated as “The True Story of and Description of a Country Populated by a Wild, Naked, and Savage Man-munching People, Situated in the New World, America,” (Staden). Indeed, his outlook was very ethnocentric and the tales he spread of his journey only helped these views to pervade in Europe. The publication is filled with woodblock illustrations depicting the cannibalism of the natives, among other things. This ethnocentric outlook fueled may have fueled the religious conversion efforts by the Portuguese in Brazil.

Perspectives

Hans Stadem portrays an easy relationship between different religions. The natives make no attempt to quell Hans’s beliefs or his practice of them, while Hans respects their deities and shows no intent to convert them. However, as we discussed in class, we know that the Jesuits came to Brazil with the purpose of converting the natives. This is a typical move in colonization efforts throughout history, for once the native population’s fundamental beliefs are in line with the colonizer’s, there is no religious war or strife to deal with. We see in Pero Vaz’s letter to Portugal’s king that conversion, whatever its end-goal, was a major concern for the Portuguese:

“For all that, the best fruit that could be gathered hence would be, it seems to me, the salvation of these people. That should be the chief seed for Your Majesty to scatter here...How much more so will it be if there is a will to accomplish and perform in this land what Your Majesty so greatly desires, which is the spreading of our holy religion.”

So, it seems that there is a history of religious cannibalism on the part of native populations and none on the Catholic colonizers. Instead, the European beliefs tend to “beat out”  the others rather than themselves in any way.

Still, we do see some resistance to total “cannibalism” in the time of the Afro-Brazilian slaves. While owners wanted their slaves to adopt Catholicism in its entirety, the slaves instead mixed it their own beliefs and traditions. This manifests itself in Boi Bumba which contains Catholic elements (St. John the Baptist), but which also contains pagan entities such as the witch doctor (Fryer). Boi Bumba and festivals like it remain today and will probably continue to be held, for as Julie pointed out, they are “very Brazilian.” While slavery-era practitioners did “cannibalize” certain elements of their masters’ beliefs, they still held onto part of their heritage. In the same way that Hans assimilated to indigenous religious customs but held onto his core beliefs, many natives and enslaved Africans took on Catholicism, but maintained fundamental elements of their traditional beliefs. In the words of Oswald de Andrade, “We were never catechized. We lived by a somnambulistic law. We made Christ to be born in Bahia. Or in Belém do Pará.” In essence, the “somnambulistic (meaning sleepwalking-state) law” is the “going through the motions” of those who adopted Catholic traditions but never in its entire essence.

Works Cited

De Andrade, Oswald, and Leslie Bary. Cannibalistic Manifesto. Vol. 19. N.p.: Latin

American Literary Review, p.g. 38-47. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20119601?origin=JSTOR-pdf>.

Fryer, Peter. Rhythms of Resistance: African Musical Heritage in Brazil. [Middletown, Conn.]:

Wesleyan UP, 2000. Print.

Hans Staden. Dir. Luis A. Pereira. Perf. Carlos Evelyn, Ariana Messias, Darci Figueirido. Instituto

Português Da Arte Cinematográfica E Audiovisual (IPACA), 1999. Film.

Staden, Hans, and Neil LHarbsmeier, MichaelWesolowski, John Whitehead. Hans Staden's True

History [Electronic Resource] : An Account Of Cannibal Captivity In Brazil / Hans Staden ; Edited And With An Introduction By Neil L. Whitehead ; Newly Translated By Michael Harbsmeier. n.p.: Durham : Duke University Press, 2008, 2008. MU Library Catalog. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

Vaz, Pero. "The Letter of Pero Vaz De Caminha." Letter to King Manoel I. 1 May 1500.