he Amazon and the foundation of Brazil in the work Simá (1857) by Lourenço da Silva Amazonas

Abstract

This article aims to locate the literary work Simá - Historical novel of Alto Amazonas (1857) by Lourenço da Silva Amazonas within the network of literacy dialogue of the Historical and Geographic Institute of Brazil, highlighting the particularities of the author's understanding of the issue and the construction of the Brazilian nation. The concept of nation formulated by Benedict Anderson, as an “imagined political community”, will guide the investigation. Our working hypothesis is that, revolved in the midst of literary elements of the time such as romanticism, the idealization of nature and the indigenous, Lourenço seeks to give meaning to the Amazon and configure it as one of the founding elements of Brazil. The investigation is organized around four sections: a first aimed at identifying Lourenço at the IHGB; a second, designed to read more carefully his topographic, historical and descriptive Dictionary of the Comarca do Alto Amazonas (1852), seeking to understand how it brings together historical and ethnographic elements that allow generating a perception of the region; finally, the last two seek to understand how region and nation merge in the composition of the work.