THE DISCURSIVE INVENTION OF THE AMAZON FROM THE LETTERS OF EUROPEAN TRAVELERS

Abstract

This scientific essay has as its theme the reflection on writings produced by European colonizers who entered the Amazon or made records about these lands and their populations, from the 16th century onwards. The author's objective is to present a critical analysis of language constructions and discourses that founded an idea about the Amazon. The study is qualitative in nature and the methodological procedures used are documentary studies of some reports produced by European travelers during the 16th to 19th century, including literature review. The results presented point to the creation of fantastic and legendary myths, which associate the search for riches with the construction of a paradisiacal or diabolical Amazonian reality. Such reports ignore the plurality of subjects and social territories existing in the region, biasing the perception of ways of life, resistance actions, and forms of negotiation of Amazonian peoples. It is concluded, therefore, that these conceptions represent the Amazon as a space devoid of subjects, cultures, and knowledge, contributing to the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudices about the region and its inhabitants, acting on the invisibility of languages, memories, cultures, histories, and social identities, silencing or violently eliminating the experiences of native Amazonian peoples.