UMass Dartmouth Open Journals System
Not a member yet
994 research outputs found
Sort by
"Sertão Dentro": The Backlands in Early Modern Portuguese Writings
No full textABSTRACT: This article investigates uses of the term sertão in the writings of Portuguese travelers to America, Africa, and Asia in the sixteenth century. By comparing lexicon and discursive devices where the term is employed, this study aims to explore the distinct levels of certainty and speculation expressed by their authors while writing about what cannot yet be seen in their predominantly coastal journeys. I discuss variations and patterns in the description of a remote and somewhat unreachable sertão and consider how their use in chronicles about Brazil might have started to give form to the way the sertão would be later understood by Brazilian authors.
KEYWORDS: Backlands, Portuguese chronicles, sixteenth centur
