“The advancement of civilization in the backlands: The War of Canudos, Rebellion in the Backlands, and the discursive disputes in the Brazilian punitive imaginaryABSTRACT
This paper seeks to break away from the traditional readings made by jurists, criminologists, sociologists, and historians who analyze, for instance, the (in)adequacies of Euclides da Cunha’s ideas in relation to European racial theories; the convergences and divergences between the author’s thoughts and that of Nina Rodrigues; or the so-called racist character of Os Sertões, all in search of a definitive, closed interpretation of the book. The research problem proposed here is as follows: what the following ambiguities among context, event, author, and text - the vision of Euclides da Cunha on Canudos before and after witnessing the fourth military expedition against the community; the narrative of Rebellion in the Backlands and the common discourse about canudense population that circulated in Brazilian society; and the very text of Rebellion in the Backlands - represent about the action of the Brazilian State in the War of Canudos, and to what extent did these ambiguities embodied the functioning of a Brazilian punitive imaginary?
Keywords:
Civilization; barbarism; War of Canudos; backlands; Brazilian punitive imaginary