“They were as we were” : the Tupínamba, travel writing and the missing ‘individual’ in New World historiography
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Using the travel writings of Amerigo Vespucci, the voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral and Jean de Léry’s book, History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Also Called America, this thesis will investigate the role of the individual in the narrative of New World contact. This thesis specifically moves against the tendency in New World historiography to rely upon meta-narratives and a singular, universal European presence to explain the circumstances of the New World contact. This project seeks to gain
greater understanding of the unique and divergent representations of indigenous cultures
contained within travel writing by being sensitive towards the travel writer’s individual
characteristics such as educational background, religion and participation in intellectual
endeavours. The specific example used in this thesis will be the Tupínamba of coastal Brazil and will be supported by the anthropological understandings we have about this extinct indigenous group. Overall, this thesis seeks to show that in the creating of metanarratives
regarding the New World experience of Europeans, it is easy to forget that the word “European” is as meaningless as the word “Indian” in terms of academic usefulness.
Description
Keywords
exploration, New World, Brazil, Tupi, Tupinamba, travel writing, historiography
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Program
History