Euclides da Cunha – författare

"The Backlands" is a translation of Euclide da Cunha's work "Os Sertoes", a non-fictional account of the War of Canudos in Brazil during the 1890s. The deadliest civil war in Brazilian history, the conflict was between the Brazilian government and a rebellious village of 30,000 Canudos living in the northeastern state of Bahia, led by Antonio Conselheiro, a religious zealot. Far from being simply an objective journalistic account, Da Cunha's story shows both the significance of this event and the complexities of Brazilian society.

'The Amazon' features eight essays by Euclides da Cunha, about his trip through the Amazonin in 1905, written to describe the Brazilian hinterlands to the urban citizens.

In the eight pieces that make up Land Without History, first published in Portuguese in 1909, Euclides da Cunha offers a rare look into twentieth century Amazonia, and the consolidation of South American nation states. Mixing scientific jargon and poetic language, the essays in Land Without History provide breathtaking descriptions of the Amazonian rivers and the ever-changing nature that surrounds them. Brilliantly translated by Ronald Sousa, Land Without History offers a view of the ever changing ecology of the Amazon, and a compelling testimony to the Brazilian colonial enterprise, and its imperialist tendencies with regard to neighboring nation-states.

In the eight pieces that make up Land Without History, first published in Portuguese in 1909, Euclides da Cunha offers a rare look into twentieth century Amazonia, and the consolidation of South American nation states. Mixing scientific jargon and poetic language, the essays in Land Without History provide breathtaking descriptions of the Amazonian rivers and the ever-changing nature that surrounds them. Brilliantly translated by Ronald Sousa, Land Without History offers a view of the ever changing ecology of the Amazon, and a compelling testimony to the Brazilian colonial enterprise, and its imperialist tendencies with regard to neighboring nation-states.

Euclides da Cunha''s classic account of the brutal campaigns against religious mystic Antonio Conselheiro has been called the Bible of Brazilian nationality. "Euclides da Cunha went on the campaigns [against Conselheiro] as a journalist and what he returned with and published in 1902 is still unsurpassed in Latin American literature. Cunha is a talent as grand, spacious, entangled with knowledge, curiosity, and bafflement as the country itself. . . . On every page there is a heart of idea, speculation, dramatic observation that tells of a creative mission undertaken, the identity of the nation, and also the creation of a pure and eloquent prose style."—Elizabeth Hardwick, Bartleby in Manhattan

An important new translation of a fundamental work of Brazilian literature Written by a former army lieutenant, civil engineer, and journalist, Backlands is Euclides da Cunha''s vivid and poignant portrayal of Brazil''s infamous War of Canudos. The deadliest civil war in Brazilian history, the conflict during the 1890s was between the government and the village of Canudos in the northeastern state of Bahia, which had been settled by 30,000 followers of the religious zealot Antonio Conselheiro. Far from just an objective retelling, da Cunha''s story shows both the significance of this event and the complexities of Brazilian society. Published here in a new translation by Elizabeth Lowe, and featuring an introduction by one of the foremost scholars of Latin America, this is sure to remain one of the best chronicles of war ever penned.

En 1902 arribo a las librerias cariocas un libro titulado Os sertoes (Los sertones). Su autor, Euclides da Cunha, un ingeniero militar que habia sido enviado como corresponsal a la guerra de Canudos, se animo a decir lo que nadie habia dicho. Curiosamente, aquel hombre formado en la ideologia positivista y modernizadora fue sensible al caracter desigual de la batalla entre el Estado y los seguidores de Antonio Conselheiro, lider religioso y politico cuya comunidad fue incendiada con bombas de dinamita. Da Cunha denuncia en su libro los brutales medios que habia utilizado la Republica lo mismo que las mentiras complacientes de la clase dominante acerca de la realidad del pais. El fue el primero en revelar no solo las atrocidades cometidas por quienes se suponian grandes heroes de guerra, sino tambien la verdadera condicion del interior brasileno, sumido en la miseria. Las semejanzas con el Facundo de Sarmiento, junto al cual ha sido analizada, inscriben la obra de Da Cunha en un genero que luego tendria una gran tradicion en las letras latinoamericanas: el ensayo de interpretacion nacional. Los sertones puede leerse como un relato de exclusion: retrato de un Estado que a la hora de enfrentarse a un tipo de asociacion organizada al margen de sus principios solo sabe resistir mediante el exterminio, poniendo frente a nuestros ojos el horror de la barbarie que se esconde tras los prestigiosos simbolos de la modernidad.