The purpose of the article is to scrutinize the contribution of Oswald de Andrade’s book Pau Brasil to the mythology of the bandeirante, which was consolidated in the period, extending the range of political uses made about such mythological figure. In this sense, the article inserts this emblematic work of the heroic phase of Paulista modernism - admittedly an avant-garde and progressive work - in a debate whose general direction was to provide an historical explanation for the economic strength of Sao Paulo, and thus justify its claims to political supremacy. According to the author, however, Pau Brasil represents a cleavage in the conceptions of the bandeirante, which she seeks to delimit. For her, Pau Brasil distances itself from any kind of claim to overcome the rest of the nation. In a gesture intended to erase the strength attributed to the Portuguese heritage, the book builds the figure of the bandeirante in order to replace the colonizer in the origins of the Brazilian cultural backgrounds.
Pau Brasil; Oswald de Andrade; São Paulo’s modernism; Bandeirante