Difference between revisions of "Brazil"

Brazil was claimed for Portugal in 1500 and was named for the land’s first export product, pau-brasil (brazilwood), trade in which was initiated in 1502 by a consortium of “New Christians” (converted Jews) led by Fernão de Noronha. With printing presses scarce during most of the colonial period, manuscripts, when possible, were published primarily in the mother country Portugal—unlike in Spanish America, where printing presses had been established since the early days of colonization. Publications of conquest, travel, and colonization were therefore not encouraged within colonial Brazil. This scenario explains in part why the letter of discovery written to King Manuel I of Portugal by Pero Vaz de Caminha—the scribe to the explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who is credited with having been the first European to sight Brazil—was not published until 1817, even though its existence had been known since 1773. The letter not only narrates the Portuguese encounter with native tribes and the discovery of natural resources but also reveals the roots of “nativism,” an impressionistic glorification of Brazil’s fauna and flora...[[Brazilian literature|>>>read more<<<]]

Brazil was claimed for Portugal in 1500 and was named for the land’s first export product, pau-brasil (brazilwood), trade in which was initiated in 1502 by a consortium of “New Christians” (converted Jews) led by Fernão de Noronha. With printing presses scarce during most of the colonial period, manuscripts, when possible, were published primarily in the mother country Portugal—unlike in Spanish America, where printing presses had been established since the early days of colonization. Publications of conquest, travel, and colonization were therefore not encouraged within colonial Brazil. This scenario explains in part why the letter of discovery written to King Manuel I of Portugal by Pero Vaz de Caminha—the scribe to the explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who is credited with having been the first European to sight Brazil—was not published until 1817, even though its existence had been known since 1773. The letter not only narrates the Portuguese encounter with native tribes and the discovery of natural resources but also reveals the roots of “nativism,” an impressionistic glorification of Brazil’s fauna and flora...[[Brazilian literature|>>>read more<<<]]