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.jpg)   Iracema byAntônio Parreiras (1909);Moema byVictor Meirelles (1866);The Last Tamoio byRodolfo Amoedo (1883) |
Indianism (Portuguese:Indianismo) was a Brazilian literary and artistic movement that reached its peak during the first stages ofRomanticism in the country, though it had been present inBrazilian literature since theBaroque period.
In Romantic contexts, it is called "the first generation of Brazilian Romanticism", being succeeded by the "Ultra-Romanticism" and the "Condorism".
After theindependence of Brazil fromPortugal in 1822, a heavy wave of nationalism spread through the Brazilian people. Inspired by this, poets and writers began to search for an entity that could represent and personify thenewly created Brazilian nation.[1]
Since there was noMiddle Ages in Brazil, it could not be theknight, as in theEuropeanchivalric romances; it could not be thePortuguese man either, since Brazilians still held resentment for the years ofcolonization;[2] it could not be theblack man either, since the mentality of the time did not allow it. Influenced byEnlightenment ideals, especially works byJean-Jacques Rousseau and the "noble savage" archetype, the authors chose the Brazilian Indian to represent the new nation.
Indianist works are characterized by always having anIndian as the protagonist. The poetry is verypatriotic andnationalistic, exalting Brazilian fauna, flora, riches and people.
