the backlands, by Euclides da Cunha, is the book that opens the Pre-modernism (1902-1922), a literary period that makes the transition between Brazilian symbolism and modernism. Thus, it presents traits from previous styles — realism, naturalism, Parnassianism and symbolism. The works from this period present a critical nationalism, sociopolitical theme and journalistic language.
At work the backlands, in Euclid da Cunha, the observant narrator tells, in detail, the War of Canudos (1896-1897). Thus, the book is divided into three parts: “The Earth”, in which the flora, relief and climate of the northeastern hinterland are described; “The man”, in which the countryman is described from a vision deterministic, linked to naturalism; and “The fight”, when the narrator reports, in detail, the Straw War.
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Analysis of the work
Narrator/narrative focus
The work the backlands
, by Euclides da Cunha, has storytellerobserver in the third person, that is, it tells the story from the point of view of an observer of the events, without participating in the actions. This is due to the fact that this book is configured in a journalistic character report, which aims, therefore, at impartiality, although, in some parts of the work, it is possible to perceive the position of its author.Time
The facts occur during the Straw War, therefore situated at the end of the 19th century, more particularly between the years of 1896 and 1897.
Space
The city of straws, in the interior of Bahia, is where the action takes place.
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The land
in the first part of the backlands, entitled "The land", the reader has access to detailed descriptions from the northeastern hinterland, with details of flora, relief and climate. In addition, the narrator makes a scientific analysis of the elements observed. Thus, the pages describe, in detail, the entrance to the sertão, on the way to Monte Santo, marked by “general aridity”, but with the presence of “ipueiras” (ponds or small lakes), which are “real oases”, but have “not infrequently an aspect dismal".
From the top of the Monte Santo mountain range, the narrator has a broad view of the relief, which he describes as “a mixed one”, as it presents “plains that up close reveal a series of bunds, cut up with crevices; hills that the contrast of the floodplains is of great height and there are a few tens of meters above the ground, and boards which, in being traversed, show the chaotic accident of scalloped and gross gaps”. The local climate means that, during the day, the heat is scorching; however, when night falls, “all this heat is lost in space in a very intense radiation, dropping the temperature suddenly, in a single, astonishing fall...”.
The narrator proposes hypotheses for drought, such as the northeast monsoon, which reduces the probability of rain, and the topographic arrangement, since there is no "to the scourged lands of the North a high mountain range that, running in a perpendicular direction to that wind, determines The dynamic colding, according to an expressive saying”. And he also describes the caatinga, with its “stinging leaves, with the thorn, with the sticks cracking in spears”. Beyond the juazeiros, “which rarely lose the leaves of an intense green”; of umbu tree, which feeds and soothes the thirst of the sertanejo; and of the jurema, who, “in the midst of the scourge of drought, they put a few drops of water on the dry bark of the trunks”.
According to the narrator, Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) "delineated three geographic categories as key elements" that could influence the ethnic differentiations: “The steppes of swampy vegetation, or vast arid plains; the fertile valleys, profusely irrigated; the coasts and the islands”. In this way, the narrator begins to dialogue with the determinism naturalist, who argues that the environment influences the individual. But on the other hand, it also shows the influence that the individual exerts on the environment, so that the human being can be considered a “maker of deserts”.
The man
in the second part of the backlands, entitled “The man”, the narrator draws a countryman profile, based on determinism, that is, on the influence that the environment, the breed and the historical moment exert on the individual. In this way, it analyzes the three ethnic elements trainers “of the mestizo races of Brazil”: the indigenous, the African and the Portuguese. Afterwards, the physical environment in which these "mixed races" were formed and the action of this medium in the “formation of races”. So it focuses on "Brazilian training in the North" and on the figure of the mulatto.
The narrator uses the country's history to understand how the “jagunço” came to be, a word used as a synonym for “sertanejo”. he uses the mistaken scientific theories of the time to understand such ethnic formation and emphasizes that the “mixing of very diverse races is, in most cases, harmful” and that “extreme mestizaje is a step backwards”. For him, "the mestizo - mulatto, mamluco or cafuz - less than an intermediary, is a fallen one, without the physical energy of the wild ascendants, without the intellectual altitude of the superior ancestors". And, finally, it concludes, in a way racist, that the northern countryman is an inferior race.
The narrator declares that the “countryman is, above all, a strong”. He says he doesn't have the "exhausting rickets of the neurasthenic mestizos of the coast." However, he claims that his appearance says otherwise. Furthermore, according to the narrator, he is lazy, until something appears that demands his action: “Man is transfigured. He straightens up, laying out new reliefs, new lines in stature and gesture; and his head stands tall, on his mighty shoulders, clarified by his unfazed and strong gaze”. He also takes the opportunity to talk about the traditionsfrom the backcountry, such as dances, challenges and religiosity.
He also draws a profile of the leader of the Canudos revolt, Antônio Councilor (1830-1897). The analysis of this historical personality is also carried out according to the naturalistic theories. The narrator blames Conselheiro's wife for her “imbalance”, which reaches its peak when she runs away with a policeman: “... And there appeared in Bahia the dark anchorite, with hair grown to his shoulders, a long, uncultivated beard; excavated face; glowing look; monstrous, in a blue American denim habit; addressed to the classic stick on which the pilgrims' late step rests...”.
Finally, the narrator tells the story of straws, initially a cattle farm. The site, in 1876, according to the testimony of a priest, had many people attached to the farm, a “suspicious and idle population” and “armed to the teeth”. However, in 1890, it was a ruined place, with about fifty “wooden capuabas”. Therefore, Conselheiro found the place in decay when he arrived there in 1893.
The fight
In the third part of the backlands, entitled “The fight”, the narrator narrates the Straw War and gives details of the four expeditions, with a more partial and humane view of the conflict, in order to point out the hunger and misery of the rebels. To begin with, the narrator points out other revolts the government had to deal with: in the city of Lençóis, in the village of Brito Mendes, in Jequié, among other places. He concludes: “The Canudos campaign emerged from the spontaneous convergence of all these maddened forces, lost in the hinterlands”.
According to the narrator, the conflict arises in 1896, when Conselheiro buys wood in Juazeiro to build a church, but the material is not delivered. The blessed would have threatened to invade the village to take the wood by force. Rumors about the promise of invasion make the local justice ask for government help. At first, the government of Bahia does not give it due importance, but soon the situation worsens, and troops are sent.
On November 4, 1896, “a force of one hundred soldiers from the garrison” was reserved to “go beat the fanatics of the Canudos camp”. So, in November 21st, occurs the first fight. Counselor's followers carry a banner of the Divine and a large wooden cross. These fighters carry old rifles, scythes and sticks to fight government soldiers, while other faithful show images of saints, pray and thread coconut rosaries.
The expedition members do not emerge victorious, and the conflict extends. From there, the narrator gives details of the war and analyzes the tactics of government forces. The rebels manage to resist for months. However, when prisoners fall, "in a deplorable state: stumbling, dragged, exhausted", they are beheaded by the soldiers of the state. So, before the end of the conflict, in September 22, 1897, Counselor dies from injuries and a diarrhea, unbeknownst to government forces. And the war extends to October 5, 1897:
Straws did not surrender. Unique example in all of history, resisted until complete exhaustion. Expunged inch by inch, in the full precision of the term, it fell on the 5th, at dusk, when its last defenders fell, and they all died. There were only four: one old, two grown men and one kid, in front of which they roared angrily 5 thousand soldiers.
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Euclid da Cunha
Euclid da Cunha was born in Cantagalo, in January 20, 1866. He was an engineer, journalist, essayist and historian. He studied at the Praia Vermelha Military School in 1888, when, on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of War, protested Against themonarchy and so he was expelled from the army. That same year, living in São Paulo, he started writing for The State of S. Paul. However, he returned to the army when the Republic was proclaimed.
In 1891, he entered the Escola Superior de Guerra. He was soon promoted to first lieutenant and earned a BA in Mathematics, Physical and Natural Sciences. Still as a collaborator of The State of S. Paul, wrote articles about the Canudos revolt in March 1897 and, how war correspondent, left for the conflict region in August of that year to cover the fighting. In 1903, he was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Died on August 15, 1909, in Rio de Janeiro.
Thus, Euclides da Cunha, with his work the backlands, opens the premodernism in 1902, a literary period that makes the transition between symbolism and the modernism Brazilians and presents the characteristics presented below.
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Traces of the following styles:
- Realism;
- Naturalism;
- Parnassianism;
- Symbolism.
Critical nationalism.
Sociopolitical themes.
Lack of idealization.
Journalistic language.
Image credit
|1| L&PM Publisher / Reproduction
by Warley Souza
Literature teacher
