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Let Us Devour Oswald de Andrade: A rereading of the Manifesto antropófago

1999; Volume: 12; Issue: 23-24 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/ntc.1999.0005

1940-9079

João Cézar de Castro Rocha, David Shepherd, Tânia M. G. Shepherd,

Brazilian cultural history and politics

LET US DEVOUR OSWALD DE ANDRADE A rereading of the Manifesto antropófago _______________JOÁO CEZAR DE CASTRO ROCHA2_______________ Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro PRONEX - CNPqIPUC - Rio de Janeiro Precisamos, precisamos esquecer o Brasil! Täo majestoso, täo sem limites, täo despropositado, Ele quer repousar de nossos terriveis carinhos. O Brasil näo nos quer! Está farto de nos! Nosso Brasil é no outro mundo. Este näo ? o Brasil. Nenhum Brasil existe. E acaso existiräo os brasileiros? (Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Hiño nacional) A special issue The present issue of Nuevo Texto Crítico aims at contributing towards a reappraisal of the Manifesto antropófago. To this end, the organizers of Anthropophagy Today! have invited both specialists on the theme, as well as theoreticians and critics who are not necessarily familiar with Brazilian literature, nor with Oswald de Andrade's concept of anthropophagy. In other words, we are not concerned with the investigation of an imaginary national identity, to be revealed through the exegesis of the Manifesto antropófago. We believe that the discourses about identity are essentially useless, because they are inevitably tautological. The present issue sees Oswaldian anthropophagy as a problem. In common with Claude Lévi-Strauss' view of myths, problems have to supply food for thought, otherwise they cannot be considered as constituting a valuable problem. Thus, the measure of their value cannot reside in the monotonous recipe for national identity, i.e., a certain amount of Brazil, added to a little exoticism, and seasoned according to taste. If the Manifesto antropófago is seen as a problem, then its focus on national identity matters less than the complexity from which it gains its nourishment. In other words, it is a question of acknowledging Benedito Nunes' pioneer work. In some of Nunes' essays, the philosophical dimension of Oswaldian anthropophagy was interpreted against the backcloth of Western culture. On the contrary, the strategy of the majority of Latin American intellectuals, who always take pains to underline the typical Latin American characteristics of this or that discourse, simply reinforces the interests which they believe are being contradicted. Indeed, theirs is an illusive argument against what they believe are the decision-making centers.©1999 NUEVO TEXTO CRTTlCO Vol XII No 23/24 Enero a Diciembre 1999 JOAO CEZAR DE CASTRO ROCHA Paradoxically, their efforts do no more than create ghettos, from which they presume to derive an undeniable source of legitimization for their work. In this way, they ensure for themselves a niche in the market within the emerging globalized world of academic knowledge, a world which blossoms in conferences whose papers remain unnoticed and in journals which never go beyond the modest circle of Latin Americanists. However, the practical advantages of this market niche for Latin American "products" are embarrassingly mediocre. Furthermore, by adopting such a limiting attitude, Latin Americanists waste the unique intellectual opportunity of discussing themes and articulating theories which go beyond their frontiers. We must not allow ourselves to be self-indulgent. The Manifesto antropófago is important because of the problems it raises and, in this way, may be of interest to the international academic community. Otherwise, it is no more than an episodic text, which offers yet another answer to the false problem of national identity, rather than posing worthwhile questions. This is an illusive problem, because within this scenario, identity, understood as essence, is never regarded as problematic. It remains, at the most, temporarily hidden, awaiting for interpreters who will unveil the true identity of the "Nation". The aim oí Anthropophagy Today! is to provide a renewed reading of the Manifesto antropófago through a collection of essays that has been grouped into four sections: "Manifestos and Manifestations", "Genealogies", "Re-readings" and "Repercussions". Last but not least, writer Ana Miranda has generously offered us "Jantar", a fascinating text which acts as a preface to all sections. "Jantar" has been duly devoured, or rather, translated into all the languages in which the issue is launched. The anthropophagous obsession The celebrations of the 500 years of the invention of Brazil have given rise to a series of events in which anthropophagy is the main focal point. The 1998...