Os Sertões, by Euclides da Cunha

“the Sertões” is one of the most emblematic works of the pre-modernist writer Euclides da Cunha (1866-1909), published in 1902.

The regionalist work narrates the events of the bloody War of Canudos, led by Antônio Conselheiro (1830-1897), which took place in the interior of Bahia, during 1896 and 1897.

It is a historical report mixed with literature, since Euclides was invited by Jornal Estado de São Paulo to cover the war in Arraial de Canudos and at that time, his work appeared.

For this reason, "Os Sertões" represents a landmark in Brazilian literature and history, being, therefore, analyzed by other areas of knowledge, such as: Anthropology, Sociology, Geography and History.

The work has a critical and realistic character never before approached by a Brazilian literate, hence Euclides through a scientific language recriminates the exacerbated nationalism and pride of Brazilian society at the time, showing the everyday and realistic face of the country and the people who make up.

In such a way, it is a scientific and artistic prose, putting an end to this idealistic vision of the Indian hero and the black worker, approached with enthusiasm by the writers of romanticism.

instagram story viewer

To learn more about the writer's life, visit: Euclid da Cunha

Structure of the Work

“Os Sertões” is an extensive work with about 630 pages, divided into 3 parts, which consist of several chapters, namely:

The land

Description of the environment (location, climate, relief, fauna, flora, vegetation, etc.) of the hinterland and of the drought that affects the region. It is a geographic study, divided into 5 chapters:

I. Preliminary. The entrance to the sertão. Unknown Earth. On the way to Monte Santo. First impressions. A geologist's dream.
II. Coup de vista from the top of Monte Santo. From the top of the Favela.
III. The weather. Unique hygrometers.
IV. Droughts. Hypotheses the genesis of droughts. The caatingas. The jujube. The Storm. Resurrection of Flora. The umbu tree. The Jurema. The sertão is a paradise. Sertanejo mornings.
V. A geographic category that Hegel did not mention. How to make a desert. How the desert extinguishes. The secular martyrdom of the land.

The man

Description of the man, life and customs of the sertão, that is, the sertanejo. It is a anthropological and sociological study, where man is determined by the triad - environment, race and history - according to the deterministic theory of the French historian Hippolyte Taine (1828-1893). This part of the work is divided into 5 chapters:

I. Complexity of the ethnological problem in Brazil. Physical environment variability. (...) and its reflection on history. Action of the environment in the initial phase of the formation of races. The Brazilian formation in the North. The first settlers. The genesis of the mulatto.
II. Genesis of the jagunços. Historical function of the river S. Francisco. The jagunços: probable collaterals of the paulistas. The cowboy. Jesuit foundations in Bahia. Favorable causes for the mestizo formation of the sertões, distinguishing it from crossings on the coast. An annoying parenthesis. A strong race.
III. The countryman. Dissimilar types: the jagunço and the gaucho. The cowboy. The gaucho. The jagunço. Cowboys. Unconscious servitude. The Rogue. The harbour. Boiada burst. Traditions. Dances. Challenges. The drought. Insulation in the desert. Mixed religion. Historical factors of the mestizo religion. Variable character of sertanejo religiosity. the “Beautiful Stone”. Monte Santo. Current missions. The “Serenes”.
IV. Antônio Councilor, living document of atavism. A blunt Gnostic. Big man inside out. Natural representative of the environment in which he was born. Family Background: Maciéis. Fights between Maciéis and Araújos. A well-sponsored life. First setbacks. The fall. How to make a monster. Pilgrimages and martyrdoms. Legends. The ascetic. The sermons. Montanist precepts. Prophecies. A 2nd century heresiarch in the middle of the modern age. Cool reaction attempts. More legends. Hegira to the hinterland.
V. Straws: background. Vertiginous growth. Original appearance. Regimen of the “urbs”. Multiform population. Bandits police. Depredations. The temple. Road to Heaven. The prayers. Bizarre groupings. The “kisses” of the images. Why not preach against the Republic? An aborted mission. Portrait of the Counselor. Curse on the rammed Jerusalem.

The fight

Description of the Canudos War that decimated a large part of the northeastern population. It is a historiographical study, divided into 34 chapters, narrates the four expeditions carried out by the army and also about the post-war period:

The first expedition is divided into 4 chapters:

I. Preliminary. Background.
II. Proximate causes of the fight. Wow. First fight.
III. Reaction preparations. The war in the caatingas.
IV. Doubtful autonomy. Crossing the tomb.

The second expedition is divided into 6 chapters:

I. Monte Santo. Early triumphs.
II. Campaign misunderstanding. On the way to Canudos.
III. The Cambay. Strongholds sine calcii linimenti. First encounter. Big John. Tragic episode.
IV. On the Boards. Second fight. Abbot João's Legio Fulminata. New Counselor Miracle.
V. Withdrawal.
SAW. Procession of the jiraus. Moreira César expedition.

The third expedition is divided into 6 chapters:

I. Moreira César and the environment that made him famous. Floriano Peixoto. Moreira César. First regular shipment. Criticism. The Population of Straws Grows. How the jagunços await the new expedition. Trenches. Weapons. Gunpowder. Bullets. Fighters. Abbot John. Processions. Prayers.
II. Departure from Monte Santo. First mistakes. New road. On the way to Angico. Psychology of the Brazilian soldier.
III. Pitombas. The first date. "These people are unarmed...". Panic and bravery. “In accelerated! ”. Two Counselor business cards. A look at Canudos. Arrival of the Force. Rebate.
IV. The order of battle. The terrain. Criticism. Citadel-Mundéu. Partial Conflicts. Withdrawals before the triumph. In the labyrinth of alleys. Disquieting situation. Moreira César out of combat. Retreat. At the beat of the Hail Mary.
V. About Alto do Mário. Colonel Tamarindo. Point of withdrawal. Moreira César's protest. Withdrawal. Boo.
SAW. Stampede. Escape. Solomon of the Rock. An outdoor arsenal. A cruel diversion.

The fourth expedition is divided into 8 chapters:

I. Disasters. Straws — a diathesis. Jamming of monarchic newspapers. Rua do Ouvidor and the caatingas. Considerations. Insane versions. Heroic lies. Cape Roque. Mass lifting. Plans. A stumble of barbarians.
II. Mobilization of troops. Concentration on Fires. The 4th expedition is organized. Reviews. Delays. There is no campaign plan. Criticism. The engineering commission. Siqueira de Meneses. Road to Calumbi. The march to Canudos. The 5th Bahia Police Corps. Graduation change. Incidents. An awesome guide: Pajeú. In the Rosary. Passage in Pitombas. Cruel memories. The top of the Favela. Shooting. Criticism. Trenches of the Jagunços. The shooting continues. Camp in Favela. Straws. Rain of bullets. Confusion and Disorder. Write-offs. A trapped division.
III. Savaget column. Carlos Teles. Cocorobó. Geological Retrospection. In front of the trenches. Exceptional bayonets charge. The crossing. Macambira. New bayonets charge. Shooting. Bombing. Trabubu Unexpected emissary. A campaign plan is destroyed.
IV. Single victory. The fear. Write-offs. Beginning of a chronic battle. Cannoning. Replica of the jagunços. Regime of deprivations. Siege Adventures. Dangerous hunts. Discouragements. Assault on the camp. The "killer". Command-in-Chief Attitude. Another look at Canudos. Discouragement. Heroic desertions. A galvanic shock on the battered expedition.
V. The assault: preparations. Plan of the assault. The encounter. Line of combat. Criticism. Confusion. The jagunços' hideouts. New disastrous victory. Write-offs. On the flanks of Canudos. Critical position. Notes from a diary. Triumphs by the telegraph.
SAW. On the roads. The wounded. Depredations. Fires. First news right. Write-offs. Versions and Legends. “Long live Bom Jesus!”. An epic move.
VII. Other reinforcements. The Girard Brigade. Strange heroism. Traveling to Canudos.
VIII. New reinforcements. Marshal Bitencourt. Annoying frame. Too prosaic contributors. In Straws. The church bell. Shooting.

The "new phase of the fight" is divided into 3 chapters:

I. Burns. Demonic pages. A geographical fiction. Out of the homeland. In Straws. Prisoners. In front of a child. Another child. On the road to Monte Santo. Outrageous palimpsests. In Monte Santo. In Straws. An "enthusiastic boo". Trench Seven of September. Road to Calumbi.
II. Auxiliary division march. Glorious fear. Caxomongo. False rebate. In search of a half ration of glory. Appearance of the camp. Straws. The quackery of courage.
III. Embassy to Heaven. Harassment complement. Tragedy scenario.

The "last days" is divided into 7 chapters:

I. The struggle of the defeated. The prisoners. The sticking.
II. Author's testimonial. A cry of protest.
III. Titans against the dying. Harassment is constricted. Digging his own grave. Trench of corpses. Around the wells. On the murals of the new church.
IV. Tour inside Canudos.
V. The assault. The cannon. Replica of the jagunços. Write-offs. Tupi Syrup. The dynamite. Continues the replica. Write-offs. In the blood hospital. Notes from a Diary. Antonio, the Blessed One. Death of Councilor. Prisoners.
SAW. The end. Straws did not surrender. The Counselor's corpse.
VII. Two lines.

To learn more about this event, read the article: Straw War

Work Summary

Initially, Euclides focuses on the description of Sertão, the place where the plot will be developed. It points to aspects of the landscape from the relief, the fauna, the flora and the arid climate. According to him, the landscape of the place far from the coast, indicates the exploitation of man for years.

In the first part of the work, he talks about the local inhabitants, the sertanejo and the jagunço, who are part of this landscape. Thus, at this first moment, it presents a region geographically and temporally separated from the rest of the country.

In the second part of the work “O Homem”, Euclides focuses mainly on the description of the sertanejo, the jagunço and the cangaceiro, as well as on the resistance of the people in relation to the land, therefore analyzing the figure of the leader of Arraial de Canudos, Antônio Conselheiro, from his genealogy and goals.

At this point in the work, we note racial determinism, since Euclides covers racial issues that include the Indian, Portuguese, black, also formed by sub-races, the mestizo. Therefore, man is the fruit of the environment in which he lives.

In the third part of the work “A Luta”, the author describes the clashes that occurred between the sertanejo (considered the bandits of the sertão) and the national army of Brazil.

It deals with the four expeditions carried out by the national army, sent to destroy the Arraial de Canudos, which had about 20 thousand inhabitants.

The story ends with the tragic outcome and destruction of Canudos.

To improve your knowledge of literature, see the texts below!

Exercises on Premodernism
Sad end of Policarpo Lent