Banca de DEFESA: ALEXANDRE HENRIQUE ALVES DE OLIVEIRA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ALEXANDRE HENRIQUE ALVES DE OLIVEIRA
DATE: 12/06/2026
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Remota via StreamYard
TITLE:

Analysis of Nineteenth-Century Travelogues – Observations centered on the narrative of Edward D. Mathews

KEY WORDS:

Amazon; Traveler; Mathews; Indigenous; Imperialism

PAGES: 144
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: História
SUMMARY:

This research is based on 19th-century travel accounts, primarily that of the English engineer Edward Davies Mathews, which was translated into Portuguese and published in 2022 by Hélio Rodrigues Rocha under the title Journeys on the Amazon and Madeira Rivers – (Brazil), Bolivia, and Peru (1872–1874). The objective of this research is to present the Amazon of the 1800s–its culture, economy, and society – primarily around the Madeira, Mamoré, and Guaporé rivers, in the stretch marked by waterfalls, and the neighboring country, Bolivia. The context of these selected accounts is set against the first rubber boom and the transformations that the export of this product was generating in the Amazon region, one of the consequences of which was the construction of the Madeira-Mamoré Railway. Through these accounts, it is possible to glimpse an Amazon of yesteryear. These literary narratives were precisely researched to construct an overview of regional history in the area corresponding to the current state of Rondônia and to nineteenth-century Bolivia. The accounts of Mathews and other travelers were also examined within a decolonial interpretive framework, thereby analyzing their discourses and intentions. In this sense, it was possible to identify a common profile among these travelers and to see their discourse as a means of legitimizing imperialist intervention in the region. Furthermore, this legacy left by the travelers is used as a historiographical artifact for connecting, comparing, and observing the relationship with the literary field. The use of these two disciplines was identified to generate literary works that intensified foreigners’ interest in the Amazon, even though, often, these messages were not clear to readers and, above all, to the true interests of the Amazon region.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1000356 - ROGERIO SÁVIO LINK
Interno - 1526681 - ALEXANDRE PACHECO
Externa à Instituição - REGINA WEBER - UFRGS