THE STEREOTYPES OF THE “INDIANS” IN 19TH CENTURY BRAZIL (1845-1867): disputed speeches

Abstract

This article presents a characterization of the discourses referring to the Indians, based on the 19th century agenda. Such discourses bring at their core the figure of the Indian as one of the main concerns regarding the constitution of the Brazilian population. The speeches of some prominent nineteenth-century intellectuals were addressed, in order to situate the reader in relation to the debates that were held during the chronological period from 1845 to 1867, before the arrival of ideas related to social Darwinism and eugenics, in the decade of 1870. Among the studied intellectuals, we approached the monograph by Carl Philipp von Martius, awarded for defining the bases for the writing of the History of Brazil. Then, we presented Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen's speech, characterized by a critique of the Indian movement that tried to elect the Brazilian native as the representative of Brazilian nationality. In addition to these, there was also João Francisco Lisboa, who displayed a fluctuating discourse that initially proved to be critical of the Indians, classifying them as barbarians, and later transmuted into a speech that admitted the predatory action of the colonizer against the first inhabitants. The term discourse was used here considering that Pierre Bourdieu states that language is not just a communication system, but also refers to the establishment of an ideology that demarcates a dominant idea. Thus, there is a notion of authorized language that defends the existence of those who have legitimacy to express discourses and these individuals are recognized as carriers of legitimate speech. Linguistic symbols go beyond the function of communication. Its use becomes a way of establishing symbolic systems that fill collective consciences and contribute to the establishment and reproduction of the social order.