O sertão como representação geográfica : uma análise da relação real e imaginada em Os sertões de Euclides da Cunha

Abstract

This paper is based on the idea of sertão (backlands) as a geographical representation, focusing on the analysis of the book Os Sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands, 1902) by Euclides da Cunha. In the nineteenth century, through literature, various writings built a set of descriptions and images of Brazil, where the interpretation of the nation, the people, and nature also passed through literary narratives. In this context, Euclides's work shows the capacity to interpret the sertão and the country through the relationship between society and the environment. Focusing on these concepts, we draw attention to the central question of this research: In what way the sertão is presented as a geographical representation in the book Os Sertões by Euclides da Cunha? As an objective, we want to analyze how the sertão is presented as a geographical representation in the book Os Sertões by Euclides da Cunha. As a methodological path, this study did a literary review centered on the reflection of the ideas of essential texts on the theme of nature and space in social thought (nineteenth century) and the concept of sertão as an interpretative path of Brazil and geographical representation. In addition to bibliographical research, we assumed some elements of an analysis brought out by Antônio Cândido, which allowed us to see the book in its spatial dimension. In terms of results, the monograph led to the conception of sertão as a geographical representation of the nation. From the Euclidian text, it is possible to note that the real and the imaginary were central in the presentation of the territorial arrangement. The analyses suggest a process in which the description of the environment, the historical aspects of formation and occupation of the territory, the social organization, and cultural characteristics are placed not only in their concrete condition but also as an imaginative one in a process in which literature shapes reality and opens the way for the construction of thoughts with significant geographic characteristic.