''Iracema'' (in Portuguese: ''Iracema - A Lenda do Ceará'') is one of the three indigenous novels by

José de Alencar José Martiniano de Alencar (May 1, 1829 – December 12, 1877) was a Brazilian lawyer, politician, orator, novelist and dramatist. He is considered to be one of the most famous and influential Brazilian Romantic novelists of the 19th century, ...

. 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 (; Tabajaras) are an Indigenous people of Brazil who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization. Their territory extended from Ilha de Itamarac ...

indigenous woman Iracema and the Portuguese

colonist A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among the first settli ...

Martim Martim is a Portugal, Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Barcelos Municipality, Portugal, Barcelos. The population in 2011 was 2,375, in an area of 5.32 km2. References

Freguesias of Barcelos, Portugal {{braga-geo ...

, who was allied with the Tabajara nation's enemies, the Pitiguaras. Through the novel, Alencar tries to remake the history of the Brazilian colonial state of

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

, with Moacir, the son of Iracema and Martim, as the first true

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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 marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...

) 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 Guarani (Avañe'ẽ), also called Paraguayan Guarani, is a language of South America that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani branch of the Tupian languages, Tupian language family. It is one of the two official languages of Paraguay (along with Spa ...

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 An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of "America", noted by critics as befitting the allegorization of colonization of

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 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. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, 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 Antônio Diogo da Silva Parreiras (20 January 1860, Niterói – 17 October 1937, Niterói) was a Brazilian painter, designer and illustrator. Biography He was one of nine children and his father was a goldsmith. In 1882, he enrolled at the Aca ...

. *''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 also well documente ...

''), 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 in, spent most of his life in, and died in São Paulo. Andrade was one of the founders of Brazilian modernism ...

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 (19 April 1900 – 17 March 1978) was a Brazilian actress. She made her debut as the lead in the 1917 silent film ''Iracema ''Iracema'' (in Portuguese: ''Iracema - A Lenda do Ceará'') is one of the three indigenous novels ...

, 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) Rubina ...

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 Critics' Week (), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. History Critics' week was created in 1962, after the French Syndicate of ...

of the

1976 Cannes Film Festival The 29th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 28 May 1976. American author Tennessee Williams served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the drama ...

Statues

There are two statues representing Iracema at the in

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

. One is at Coordinates 3°43'22.99"S, 38°29'3.60"W and the other is at Iracema Beach at Coordinates 3°43'14.04"S, 38°30'34.43"W. This second statue was made by and was idealized in 1960. It was constructed on 1996 for the 100th anniversary of the publication, but fell down on 3 May 2022 for unknown reasons.

References

Bibliography

*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 Brazilian novels Novels by José de Alencar Portuguese-language novels Fictional indigenous Brazilian people Novels set in Brazil Ceará Indianism (arts) bpy:ইরাসেমা war:Iracema