The Guarani
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''The Guarani: Brazilian Romance'' ( pt, O Guarani: Romance Brasileiro) is a 1857 Brazilian novel written by José de Alencar. It was first serialized in the newspaper ''Diário do Rio de Janeiro'', but due to its enormous success Alencar decided to compile his writing in a volume. A plausible explanation for this success might be in the fact that the novel spoke of freedom and independence, arguing for a nativeness that could be found in tropical nature and in the indigenous people of
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 ...
. Years later the novel was turned into an opera performed in Italian and called ''
Il Guarany ''Il Guarany'' (''The Guarany'') is an opera ballo composed by Antônio Carlos Gomes, based on the novel '' O Guarani'' by José de Alencar. Its libretto, in Italian rather than Gomes' native Portuguese, was written by and . The work is notable a ...
'' (1870), by Carlos Gomes, among other places it was presented in Milan and New York (it is a known fact that the author did not appreciate the final result). ''The Guarani'' is regarded a foundational text of Brazilian Romanticism, but it gained international projection by being translated into Spanish, German (''Der Guarany, Brasilianischer Roman'', Maximillian Emerich, 1876) and English (''The Guarany, Brazilian novel'', James W. Hawes, 1893). The novel is still widely read nowadays, especially at Brazilian schools as an introduction to novel reading, but also by anyone who enjoys a thrilling adventure story. Literary criticism has tended to link ''The Guarani'' to the works of
Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought ...
, Chateaubriand and the noble savage from the Rousseauian tradition. However, this interpretation of the novel has become outdated as recent academic works show also how dark, sexual, gothic and lyrical (over narrative, unlike the Fenimore Cooper model) the novel is.


Plot introduction

''The Guarani'' is set back in 1604, a period when Portugal and its colonies submitted to Spanish dominion due to a lack of heirs to ascend to the throne. Alencar takes advantage of this dynastic complication to resurrect the historical figure of Dom Antônio de Mariz, one of the founders of the city of
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
and a pioneer settler. This historical (factual) background, which orients the novel throughout, is set in the first two chapters; then fantasy, both violent and erotic, starts to prevail. D. Antônio establishes himself in a deserted inland region, a few days’ travel from the seaside city of Rio. The land was granted to him through his services to the Portuguese crown, whose legitimacy the nobleman now distrusts. To be politically independent (if not economically) and keep to the Portuguese codes of honour, he builds a castle-like house to shelter his family in Brazilian soil where he lives like a
feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
lord with his family and retainers. His family consists of his severe wife D. Lauriana, his angelic fair, blue-eyed daughter Cecília, his
dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle desp ...
ish son D. Diogo and the "niece" Isabel, a
cabocla Cabocla is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by Rede Globo. It premiered on 10 May 2004, replacing ''Chocolate com Pimenta'', and ended on 20 November 2004, replaced by ''Como uma Onda''. The telenovela is written by Ricardo Waddington ...
who is in fact his illegitimate daughter by an Indian woman. Other people are also attached to his household: a few loyal servants, forty adventurers/mercenaries kept for protection, the young nobleman Álvaro de Sá, an appropriate suitor for his lawful daughter Cecília, and Peri, an Indian of the
Goitacá The Goitacá (or Goytacazes, among other variant spellings "Waytaquazes" "Ouetacá", "Waitaká") were an indigenous people of Brazil. They are now extinct. The Goitacá were a "Tapuia" (i.e. non- Tupi) people, one of the few that still remained o ...
people, who once saved Cecy’s life (as the romantic/romanticised Indian endearingly calls Cecília) and who has since deserted his tribe and family. Peri is the hero who gives title to the book, he is treated as a friend by D. Antônio and Ceci and as a nuisance by Mrs. Mariz and Isabel. The life of the characters is altered by the arrival of the adventurer Loredano (former friar Angelo di Lucca) who insinuates himself into the house and soon starts subverting the other vassals, planning to kidnap Cecília and scheming against the house of Mariz; along with the accidental murder of an Aimoré Indian woman by D. Diogo.


Comic adaptations

The Guarani is the Brazilian novel with the largest number of adaptations for comics. The first adaptation of the comic book was published in 1927, made by Cícero Valladares for the children magazine '' O Tico-Tico'', however, only one page was published, in 1938 was published a adaptation made by Francisco Acquarone for newspaper Correio Universal. In 1950, it was again adapted by Haitian comic artist André LeBlanc for Edição Maravilhosa #24 published by EBAL. The comic book initially published novels from global literature originally published in
Classic Comics ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', ''Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and ''The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1 ...
and Classics Illustrated. Le Blanc adapted other works by the author: Iracema (scripted by his wife) and the
O Tronco do Ipê O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
. The same year the Portuguese illustrator,
Jayme Cortez Jayme Cortez ( Lisbon, September 8th, 1926 - São Paulo, July 4th, 1987) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian comics artist. He is considered one of the most important artists of Brazilian comics. He was born in Portugal and began his career in the Port ...
, adapting the novel to the format of comic strips, published in the Diário da Noite. In the 50s it was the turn of the comic writer
Gedeone Malagola Gedeone Malagola (São Paulo, July 7th, 1924 - Jundiaí, September 15th, 2008) was a Brazilian comics artist and editor. He started his career in the 1940s, drawing for the newspaper A Marmita. He worked for several comic book publishers until he ...
. He also adapted Iracema and Ubirajara, for the publisher Vida Doméstica. Another adaptation was made by Nilo Cardoso and published by La Selva. In the 1970s it was adapted by Edumundo Rodrigues. Rodrigues also illustrated a new version of the novel by José Alberto Lima. In 2009, the brothers Walter and Eduardo Vetillo published an adaptation by Editora Cortez. The same year the publisher Editora Ática printed an adaptation by Ivan Jaf (script) and Luiz Ge (art), In 2012, Editora Scipione (a publisher of the "
Grupo Abril Grupo Abril (simply also known as Abril) is a Brazilian media conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company is the holding company of Editora Abril, which publishes the weekly newsmagazine '' Veja.'' History and profile Victor Civita, a ...
", which also is part of the Editora Ática), published an adaptation of the opera of Carlos Gomes, scripted by Rosana Rios, with drawings by Juliano Oliveira, inks by
Sam Hart Samuel James Hart (born 10 September 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Sutton United. He began his career at Liverpool, where he made his first-team debut in a pre-season friendly in August 2016. He ...
.


Film adaptation

* In 1926 it was adapted into the Brazilian film '' O Guaraní'' 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 ...
. * In 1948 it was adapted into the Italian film '' Guarany'' directed by
Riccardo Freda Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian film director. He worked in a variety of genres, including sword-and-sandal, horror, ''giallo'' and spy films. Freda began directing '' I Vampiri'' in 1956. The film became ...
.


Modern fiction

In the short story "The Last of the Guaranys" by Brazilian writers Octavio Aragão and Carlos Orsi, published in the anthologies ''The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 3: Portraits of the Trickster'' (Michael Croteau, ed., Meteor House, 2012) and ''Tales of the Wold Newton Universe'' (
Win Scott Eckert Win Scott Eckert is an author and editor, best known for his work on the literary-crossover Wold Newton Universe, created by author Philip José Farmer, but much expanded-upon subsequently by Eckert and others. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology a ...
and Christopher Paul Carey, eds.,
Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...
, 2013), Peri is one of the identities adopted by
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
er John Gribardsun (meant to be
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
's
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
) in ''Time's Last Gift'', a novel by
Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...
in his
Wold Newton family The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the American science fiction writer Philip José Farmer. Origins In real life a meteorite, called the Wold Cottage meteorite, fell near Wold Ne ...
series.


References


External links


O Guarani


(translated) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guarani, The 1857 novels Novels by José de Alencar Portuguese-language novels Fiction set in the 1600s Novels set in Brazil Brazilian novels adapted into films Fictional Portuguese people Fictional indigenous people of the Americas