Synopses & Reviews
How do the lives of indigenous peoples relate to the romanticized role of "Indians" in Brazilian history, politics, and cultural production?
Native and National in Brazil charts this enigmatic relationship from the sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the consolidation of the dominant national imaginary in the postindependence period and highlighting Native peoples' ongoing work to decolonize it. Engaging issues ranging from sovereignty, citizenship, and national security to the revolutionary potential of art, sustainable development, and the gendering of ethnic differences, Tracy Devine Guzmán argues that the tensions between popular renderings of "Indianness" and lived indigenous experience are critical to the unfolding of Brazilian nationalism, on the one hand, and the growth of the Brazilian indigenous movement, on the other.
Devine Guzmán suggests that the "indigenous question" now posed by Brazilian indigenous peoples themselves--how to be Native and national at the same time--can help us to rethink national belonging in accordance with the protection of human rights, the promotion of social justice, and the consolidation of democratic governance for indigenous and nonindigenous citizens alike.
Review
"Captures the complex and contradictory history of representations of indigenous peoples in Brazil and offers a sensitive and theoretically sophisticated treatment of the relationship between indigeneity and the Brazilian state--between national belonging and the lived experience of difference. A welcome addition to the growing literature on indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere."--Jan Hoffman French, University of Richmond
Review
"Lucid, intelligent, and thoroughly researched, this book tracks 150 years of public policy and official imaginings around indigenous peoples in Brazil and the continuing contestatory work of indigenous leaders and thinkers.
Native and National in Brazil offers students of global indigeneity indispensable access to the Brazilian scenario, whose unfolding will shape the future of indigenous peoples worldwide."--Mary Louise Pratt, New York University
Review
"With this brilliant study of the complex negotiation between a renewed sense of indigeneity and a more flexible and inclusive Brazilian national identity, beyond the traditional 'fable of the three races,' Tracy Devine Guzmán establishes herself as one of the most original interpreters of Brazil in U.S. academic circles."--Luiz F. Valente, Brown University
Review
"Through a stunning analysis of government documents, literary and artistic representations, media images, and indigenous-authored texts and websites, Tracy Devine Guzmán explores the deep chasm that has cleaved representations of Brazil's indigenous peoples from their lived experiences. Elegantly written and theoretically sophisticated,
Native and National in Brazil highlights how colonialist patterns of violence, acculturation, and exclusion have been historically reproduced in Brazil, as well as challenged by indigenous leaders and intellectuals. Devine Guzmán's scholarship exemplifies the multidisciplinary potential of cultural studies at its finest."--Seth Garfield, author of
Indigenous Struggle at the Heart of Brazil: State Policy, Frontier Expansion, and the Xavante Indians, 1937-1988
About the Author
Tracy Devine Guzmán is associate professor of Latin American studies, Portuguese, and Spanish at the University of Miami.