''Iracema'' (in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Iracema - A Lenda do Ceará'') is one of the three indigenous novels by José de Alencar. It was first published in 1865. The novel has been adapted into several films.

Plot introduction

The story revolves around the relationship between the

Tabajara Tabajara were one of the Tupi tribes of indigenous people who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization. Their territory included portions of the modern s ...

indigenous woman Iracema and the

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

Martim Martim is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Barcelos. The population in 2011 was 2,375, in an area of 5.32 km². References Freguesias of Barcelos, Portugal {{braga-geo-stub ...

, who was allied with the Tabajara nation's enemies, the

Pitiguaras The Potiguara (also Potyguara or Pitiguara) are an indigenous people of Brazil. The Potiguara people live in Paraíba, in the municipalities of Marcação, Baía da Traição and Rio Tinto. Their population numbers sixteen thousand individual ...

. Through the novel, Alencar tries to remake the history of the Brazilian colonial state of Ceará, with Moacir, the son of Iracema and Martim, as the first true

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian in Ceará. This pure Brazilian is born from the love of the natural, innocence (Iracema), culture and knowledge (Martim), and also represents the mixture (

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...

) of the native race with the European race to produce a new

caboclo A caboclo () is a person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of '' ...

race.

Explanation of the novel's title

''Iracema'' is

Guarani language Guaraní (), specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guarani ( "the people's language"), is a South American language that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani family of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of P ...

for ''honey-lips'', from ''ira'' - honey, and ''tembe'' - lips. ''Tembe'' changed to ''ceme'', as in the word ''ceme iba'', according to the author. "Iracema" is also an anagram of "America", noted by critics as befitting the allegorization of colonization of America, the novel's main theme.

Characters in Iracema

*Andira: Araquém's brother. Old warrior and hero of his people. *Araquém: Iracema's father. Spiritual leader of the Tabajara's nation. *Batuireté: Poti's grandfather *Caubi: Iracema's brother *Iracema: Araquém's daughter. She is the beautiful Tabajara woman with ''honey-lips'' and dark hair. *Irapuã: The warrior leader of the Tabajara nation. *Jacaúna: Poti's brother. *Jatobá: Poti's father. He is an important veteran warrior of the Pitiguara's nation. *Martim: Portuguese colonist. Named in honor of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, the Roman god of war. *Moacir: The child of Martim and Iracema. *Poti: Martim's friend and the Pitiguara warrior who is brother of the Pitiguara leader.

Iracema and the Indianist novels

''Iracema'', along with the novels '' O Guarani'' and '' Ubirajara'', portrays one of the stages of the formation of the Brazilian ethnic and cultural heritage. Iracema symbolizes the initial meeting between the white man (Europeans) and the natives. "Moacir" means "Son of Pain", which is related to his birth, alone with his mother, who was abandoned by Martim for some time when he had to go and help the Potiguaras in a tribal war against the Tabajaras.

Awards and nominations

*There is a Brazilian stamp in honor of ''Iracemas centennial (1865/1965) and its author. *There is a Brazilian painting by Antônio Parreiras. *''Iracema'' is cited in ''Manifesto Antropófago'' (''

Cannibal Manifesto Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...

''), which is published in 1928 by

Oswald de Andrade José Oswald de Souza Andrade (January 11, 1890 – October 22, 1954) was a Brazilian poet, novelist and cultural critic. He was born, spent most of his life and died in São Paulo. Andrade was one of the founders of Brazilian modernism and a m ...

Adaptations

The novel was adapted in 1917 as a Brazilian silent film directed by

Vittorio Capellaro Eusebio Vittorio Giovanni Battista Capellaro (1877–1943) was a Brazilian film director, film producer, film actor, and screenwriter who worked in the Cinema of Brazil between 1915 and 1935. Director filmography * ''Inocência'' (1915) * ''O ...

and starring

Iracema de Alencar Iracema de Alencar (1900–1978) was a Brazilian actress. She made her debut as the lead in the 1917 silent film ''Iracema''.Pick p.139 After working in theatre for many years she appeared in several other films, much later in her career. Select ...

, and in 1949 as a Brazilian film directed by Vittorio Cardineli and Gino Talamo, starring

Ilka Soares Ilka Hack Soares (21 June 1932 – 18 June 2022) was a Brazilian actress and model. She appeared in the title role of the 1949 historical film ''Iracema''. Shortly afterwards, she married Anselmo Duarte, and they became one of Brazil's leading ...

. In 1956,

Adoniran Barbosa Adoniran Barbosa, artistic name of João Rubinato (6 August 1910 – 23 November 1982), was a noted Brazilian São Paulo style samba singer and composer. Biography Early years João Rubinato was the seventh child of Francesco (Fernando) Rubinat ...

composed the popular samba song "Iracema". The 1975 film '' Iracema: Uma Transa Amazônica'' directed by Jorge Bodansky and Orlando Senna, which was screened at the

International Critics' Week The International Critics' Week (french: Semaine de la Critique) was founded in 1962 and is organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created following the showing of '' The Connection'' directed by Shirley Clarke which had been ...

of the

1976 Cannes Film Festival The 29th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 28 May 1976. The Palme d'Or went to ''Taxi Driver'' by Martin Scorsese. In 1976, "L'Air du temps", a new section which was non-competitive and focused on contemporary subjects, was introduced. This ...

Statues

At Fortaleza, Beira Mar, it has two Statues, representing the Figure, one at Coordinates 3°43'22.99"S, 38°29'3.60"W, the other at

Iracema Beach Praia de Iracema (lit. "Iracema Beach") is a beach and a neighborhood located in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza in the state of Ceará. Its name comes from the character Iracema that gives name to a famous novel by the ''cearense'' writer José ...

at Coordinates 3°43'14.04"S, 38°30'34.43"W. This second, made by Zenon Barreto (1918-2002) was idealized in 1960, for 100th Anniversary years of writer, constructed in 1996, commemorative Iracema Beach Development, and destroyed on 3 May 2022, felt down by unknown reasons, probably due fatigue of Steel Structure inside the

Fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, painted outside in Ochre, windy hit frequency vibration

stress corrosion Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is the growth of crack formation in a corrosive environment. It can lead to unexpected and sudden failure of normally ductile metal alloys subjected to a tensile stress, especially at elevated temperature. SCC ...

internal

resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied Periodic function, periodic force (or a Fourier analysis, Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system ...

and

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement) ...

sea air.

References

*Alencar, José de. ''Iracema'' (1865) Rio de Janeiro: B. L. Garnier. (in Portuguese) *Alencar, José de. ''Iracema, the honey lips: a legend of Brasil'' (1886) translated by Lady Isabel Burton. London: Bickers & Son. *Alencar, José de. ''Iracema'' (2000) translated by Clifford Landers. New York: Oxford University Press. *Burns, E. Bradford. ''A Working Bibliography for the Study of Brazilian History'' ''The Americas'', Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jul., 1965), pp. 54–88

External links

Academia Brasileira de Letras

Brazilian literature

(translated by Richard F. and Isabel Burton.) * {{Authority control 1865 novels Novels by José de Alencar Portuguese-language novels Fictional indigenous people of the Americas Fictional Brazilian people Novels set in Brazil Ceará bpy:ইরাসেমা war:Iracema