PAPER LANDSCAPES

THE AMAZON AS TOLD BY TRAVELERS

Abstract

The article analyzes 19th century travel accounts and how these texts reflect the Eurocentric and colonial view of Brazil. The study investigates how European travelers, in describing the fauna, flora and indigenous peoples, often perpetuated a vision of subordination and exoticism in relation to the “other”. The research uses a critical method of literary analysis, which combines content analysis of the texts with a theoretical approach based on authors such as Michel Foucault, Edward Said and Mary Louise Pratt. Foucault is used to understand the dynamics of power and knowledge present in the accounts, while Said and Pratt contribute to the analysis of the concept of “orientalism” and “contact zones”, exploring how relations of power and identity are manifested in travel narratives. Agassiz's work, although important for science, does not escape a colonizing gaze, especially as it approaches indigenous people and Brazilian nature from a perspective that frames them within European categories. The analysis suggests that these accounts, as well as contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge, also play a role in the construction of a narrative of cultural and racial domination. The article proposes a critical reading of these texts, highlighting the tensions between the search for knowledge and the practices of control and subordination.