“Zero nada, zero”: Indians Guimarães Rosa, his speech

ABSTRACT

This work examines the chronicle “Uns índios (sua fala)”, published by Guimarães Rosa in the journal A manhã (1954). In this chronicle, the writer recounts his encounter, in the state of Mato Grosso, with Tereno Indians, and his expedition to an indigenous camp in search of some secrets of the surprising Tariano language. As the chronicle implies, the seeming unintelligibility of the Tariano language is an effect of the intervention of those who want to catalog it or capture it in a writing device, and the "Indian" and "White" identities are effects produced in writing, as are the distinctions between "civilization" and "barbarism". This paper will attempt to demonstrate how this chronicle reflects some of the aspects that require reformulating the renowned documentary nature of the Guimarães Rosa corpus, as well as modifying some of the presuppositions of our reading instruments, which are generally held captive by a representational imperative.

Keywords
Guimarães Rosa; ethnography; document; Latin American literature; Brazilian literature