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| Author | Oswald de Andrade |
|---|---|
| Language | Portuguese |
Publication date | 1928 |
| Publication place | Brazil |
TheAnthropophagic Manifesto (Portuguese:Manifesto Antropófago), also variously translated as theCannibal Manifesto or theCannibalist Manifesto, is anessay published in 1928 by theBrazilianpoet andpolemicistOswald de Andrade, a key figure in the cultural movement of Brazilian Modernism and contributor to the publicationRevista de Antropofagia. It was inspired by "Abaporu," a painting byTarsila do Amaral, modernist artist and wife of Oswald de Andrade.[1] The essay was translated to English in 1991 by Leslie Bary.[2]
Written in poetic prose in the modernist style ofUne Saison en Enfer byRimbaud, theManifesto Antropófago is more directly political than Oswald's previous manifesto,Manifesto Pau-Brasil, which was created in the interest of propagating a Brazilian poetry for export. The "Manifesto" has often been interpreted as an essay in which the main argument proposes that Brazil's history of "cannibalizing" other cultures is its greatest strength, while playing on themodernists'primitivist interest incannibalism as an alleged tribal rite. Cannibalism becomes a way for Brazil to assert itself against European post-colonial cultural domination.[5]
One of the Manifesto's iconic lines, written in English in the original, is "Tupi or not Tupi, that is the question." The line is simultaneously a celebration of theTupi, who practiced certain forms of ritual cannibalism (as detailed in the 16th century writings ofAndré Thévet,Hans Staden, andJean de Léry), and a metaphorical instance of cannibalism: it eatsShakespeare. On the other hand, some critics argue that Antropofagia as amovement was too heterogeneous for overarching arguments to be extracted from it, and that often it had little to do with a post-colonial cultural politics.[6]
In the 1960s, introduced to the work of Oswald de Andrade byconcrete poetAugusto de Campos, both visual artistHélio Oiticica and musicianCaetano Veloso saw the Manifesto as a major artistic influence on theTropicália movement. Veloso has stated, "the idea of cultural cannibalism fit us, the tropicalists, like a glove. We were ‘eating’the Beatles andJimi Hendrix."[7] On the 1968 albumTropicalia: ou Panis et Circensis,Gilberto Gil andTorquato Neto explicitly refer to the Manifesto in the song "Geléia geral" in the lyric "a alegria é a prova dos nove" (happiness is the proof of nines), which they follow with "e a tristeza é teu porto seguro" (and sadness is your safe harbor).
In 1990, Brazilian visual artistAntonio Peticov created a mural in honour of what would have been Andrade's 100th birthday.Momento Antropofágico com Oswald de Andrade was installed in theSão Paulo Metro'sRepublica station. It was inspired by three of Andrade's works:O Perfeito Cozinheiro das Almas deste Mundo,Manifesto Antropofágico, andO Homem do Povo.[8][9]
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