The Anthropophagic Manifesto ( Portuguese: '), also variously translated as the Cannibal Manifesto or the Cannibalist Manifesto, is an

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

published in 1928 by the

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

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and polemicist

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 ...

, a key figure in the cultural movement of Brazilian Modernism and contributor to the publication '' Revista de Antropofagia''. It was inspired by "'' Abaporu''," a painting by Tarsila do Amaral, modernist artist and wife of Oswald de Andrade. The essay was translated to English in 1991 by Leslie Bary.

Content

Written in poetic prose in the modernist style of '' Une Saison en Enfer'' by Rimbaud, the ''Manifesto Antropófago'' is more directly political than Oswald's previous manifesto, '' Manifesto Pau-Brasil'', which was created in the interest of propagating a Brazilian poetry for export. The "Manifesto" has often been interpreted as an essay in which the main argument proposes that Brazil's history of "cannibalizing" other cultures is its greatest strength, while playing on the

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

s' primitivist interest in cannibalism as an alleged tribal rite. Cannibalism becomes a way for Brazil to assert itself against European post-colonial cultural domination. One of the Manifesto's iconic lines, written in English in the original, is " Tupi or not Tupi, that is the question." The line is simultaneously a celebration of the Tupi, who practiced certain forms of ritual cannibalism (as detailed in the 16th century writings of André Thévet,

Hans Staden Hans Staden (c. 1525 – c. 1576) was a German people, German soldier and explorer who voyaged to South America in the middle of the sixteenth century, where he was captured by the Tupinambá people of Colonial Brazil, Brazil. He managed to survi ...

, and Jean de Léry), and a metaphorical instance of cannibalism: it eats

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. On the other hand, some critics argue that Antropofagia as a movement was too heterogeneous for overarching arguments to be extracted from it, and that often it had little to do with a post-colonial cultural politics.

Influences

In the 1960s, introduced to the work of Oswald de Andrade by concrete poet

Augusto de Campos Augusto de Campos (born 14 February 1931) is a Brazilian writer who (with his brother Haroldo de Campos) was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist. Work In 1952 he founded ...

, both visual artist Hélio Oiticica and musician

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...

saw the Manifesto as a major artistic influence on the Tropicália movement. Veloso has stated, "the idea of cultural cannibalism fit us, the tropicalists, like a glove. We were ‘eating’

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

." On the 1968 album ''Tropicalia: ou Panis et Circensis'',

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...

and Torquato Neto explicitly refer to the Manifesto in the song "Geléia geral" in the lyric "a alegria é a prova dos nove" (happiness is the proof of nines), which they follow with "e a tristeza é teu porto seguro" (and sadness is your safe harbor). In 1990, Brazilian visual artist Antonio Peticov created a mural in honour of what would have been Andrade's 100th birthday. ''Momento Antropofágico com Oswald de Andrade'' was installed in the São Paulo Metro's Republica station. It was inspired by three of Andrade's works: ''O Perfeito Cozinheiro das Almas deste Mundo'', ''Manifesto Antropofágico'', and ''O Homem do Povo''.

References

External links

Text in English, translation by Leslie BaryArticle in English about Antropofagia by Carlos Jauregui
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manifesto Antropofago 1928 essays Brazilian literature Cannibalism in South America Tropicália Brazilian art Satirical essays 20th-century Brazilian literature Public domain books

Content

Influences

See also

References

External links