Do cristianismo à eugenia: a reinterpretação de hans staden por monteiro lobato

Abstract

This research aims to analise, from the point of view of historical and dialectic materialism, the reinterpretation of the book Viagem ao Brasil (also published by the name of Duas Viagens ao Brasil) from the German adventurer Hans Staden, which was recounted by Monteiro Lobato and was originally published in 1926 under the name of Aventuras de Hans Staden. Lobato's retelling of Staden's book, as well as several other books by this author from São Paulo, was - and still is - used in schools all over Brazil, and therefore its relevance in studying this work, even if it is not an original work, just like several others stories released by Monteiro Lobato, such as stories of the Brazilian folklore, or other classics of universal literature, such as Greek-Roman myths, or even Don Quijote de La Mancha. In rewriting Hans Staden’s, Monteiro Lobato adapts it to his own historical period. If the first author justifies his victories over the Brazilian native due to the superiority of his religion, Lobato re-signifies such victories in the light of his time, giving way to his eugenic beliefs and praising Staden’s supposed superiority concerning his technical knowledge and his European origin. Using the vast biography on the life of Monteiro Lobato and, mainly, of the different versions of the work of Hans Staden, this writing tries to understand how - and why - Lobato used the work of Hans Staden to spread his eugenic ideals, trying to justify an alleged superiority of the white man in relation to the native peoples of the Brazil, reinforcing some of the indigenous stereotypes that still follows the imaginary of our current society