THE INFORMATIONAL LITERATURE OF JESUITS ABOUT THE NEW
LAND
Gleba Coelli Luna da Silveira(1), Lélian Patrícia de Oliveira Silveira(2), Maria Pedro
Olaio(3)
(1)
University of Paraiba (UEPB), Campus VI - Pinto do Monteiro Poet/ CCHE, Course Spanish
Language. 59072-970 Monteiro-PB, Brazil. [email protected]
(2)
(3)
Federal Center for Technological Education, CEFET/ RJ – UNED, Petrópolis - RJ
(Course of Tourism Management) [email protected]
University of Coimbra, School of Technology and Sciences in Coimbra University (Masters
on Conservation and Restoration) [email protected]
Abstract
In Colonial Brazil after the discovery by the portugueses, religious of the Society of
Jesus came here with the aim to propagate the christian faith, but the feeling of affection
to the new land brought forth in these men an awareness for a national identity. So it is
found in the narratives of the portugueses Jesuits who came here through various texts
in the form of letters, information’s, maps, poems, hymns and sermons, with all
descriptions of beauty and wealth in the Brazil, which arousing more and more the
interest of Portugal.
Keywords: Informational Literature, Portuguese Jesuits, Brazil, Colonial, Christian
Faith.
Introduction
With the dynasty of Avis, Portugal will adopt a new worldview and in 1383 with the
popular revolution, to develop a positivist thinking bourgeoisie directed to the empirical
issues and entrepreneurs, bringing great results and leading Portugal to the great
voyages and great discoveries.
In the sixteenth century, these thoughts and ideas that drove the country into decline due
to a weak economy and lack of administrative structure. Moreover, the aristocratic class
feared losing political power to the bourgeoisie. These factors were against the
mentality that had formed in the fifteenth century they were added and the Inquisition,
an instrument of the counter-reformation, used as a weapon by the aristocratic class.
With that comes the official persecution and condemnation of the jews who constituted
the ruling class. In the years that followed after of the 1580, when Portugal was
dominated by Spain, consolidates a state of terror, where the Jesuits supported the
nobility practiced torture, based solely on complaints. Religion imposes its values in a
brutal manner, violating the human consciousness that originated in the House of Avis
and the man of the seventeenth century had to assume an attitude of contrition,
accepting God as absolute being that everything can and that takes away the human
right of free agency.
These events were conducted in colonial Brazil and throughout the seventeenth century
the persecutions of the Inquisition occurred since we belonged to Portugal. In Brazil, the
environment did not favor either the arts or literature, and what is done at the time when
the baroque style was studied as was the production of texts of brazilian and portuguese
authors who were sensitive to the literature, bringing a cultural education in Portugal.
among many can quote the priest Antonio Vieira had written texts inspired by the
events that happened in colonial Brazil.
The Society of Jesus had great influence on the formation of natives and settlers, either
in the religious point of view as the issues concerning the education of the inhabitants of
both the Iberian lands as the new land. Since its founding by Ignacio de Loyola became
one of the most important politicals, socials, and educationals organizations in the
regions colonized by the Iberian countries (Toledo; Ruckstadter, 2003: 257).
Among the first groups to arrive in Brazil Jesuits was father José de Anchieta, and
brought with them the first education literate and collated for use in newly discovered
lands. Despite this formal education, as practiced by them in the Brazilian land, and is
considered an extension of the entire Iberian Portuguese culture and so to speak,
showed marked differences when it came to the metropolis, namely, Portugal (Toledo;
Ruckstadter, 2003: 258).
In the same year Ignatius began his studies in Paris was born on the island of Tenerife,
José de Anchieta (1534-1597), the man who would become the largest representation of
the Jesuits in Brazilian lands, so the Company of Jesus has not existed. This period is
the first bases, initial ideals of the Society of Jesus, Loyola looking for students in Paris
that with him founded a new religious order. This new order grew slowly and its
construction has occurred as the needs arose before the first Jesuit Society of Jesus.
Ignacio de Loyola gathers around their ideas and thoughts a small group of guys
together that were intended to achieve greater glory of God, saving lost souls and in
total defense of the catholic faith. In young selected applied his spiritual exercises, and
with that in 1540 there is a religious order, which would strongly influence the thinking
and training of individuals in the modern world. The Order of Loyola (Toledo;
Ruckstadter, 2003: 259).
In Colonial Brazil, after the discovery by the Portuguese, religious of the Society of
Jesus came here with the aim of propagating the Christian faith, but the feeling of
affection to the new land brought forth in these men an awareness for a national
identity. So it is found in the narratives of the Portuguese Jesuits who came here
through various texts in the form of maps, information, poems, hymns and sermons, all
descriptions of beauty and wealth here and which are arousing more and more the
interest of the Portuguese.
The first years of our historical background are characterized by a pragmatic literature,
that may be caracteristics of Jesuit or have origin in the information literature travelers,
that crossing a long miles across oceans with in order to know and inform the riches of
the new land. The Jesuit literature had the duty to evangelize the natives here were
found, but also the education of white men and women who came to colonize or simply
explore the riches of land discovered. All this was in accordance with the rules of
pedagogy that were performed by the followers of scholasticism.
The opposite can be observed when referring to the reports and records of the trips, of
men who reported everything that happened in the ocean voyages and what they had
found in distant lands. This literature gave us the best and most important data on the
new earth where they had landed. And then immediately taken to his superiors in
Lisbon, so they would know and analyze all possibilities of expansion that would bring
great profits to the metropolis.
In the two literary activities, the literature of information for travelers, as the literature
of the Jesuits, the literary activities by doing random, using the aesthetic resources. All
these documents were used in Portugal, because served as the questions portugueses and
the great interest that the big city had to expand their land, as well as trade through
exploration in Brazil and all parts of the world. Unfortunately the documents produced
during this period (sixteenth century), have no literary value, but give us informes of
great anthropological, historical and social value. They are considered by experts in the
field as an important document which is full of various cultural information .
The Society of Jesus had a strong presence and performance in the period in which
Portugal colonized Brazil as well as the history of brazilian culture. It is not easy to talk
about the work of the Society of Jesus in relation to brazilian culture and, of course, it is
because they have not won many friends (Massaud, 1997: 24). The actions of the Jesuits
in Brazil have developed in several different times. The first point refers to the
geographical expansion of the metropolis, which started since the Portuguese conquered
the city of Ceuta in the year 1415, it is impossible to be denied.
After the discovery of new land, the Jesuits pushed the boundaries and also settled,
doing catechesis among the Indians, with a systematic work that has brought them much
money. They also exerted an influence considered beneficial on the natives and settlers.
The Jesuits were the first men to roam our land, facing the natural barriers such as
formed by the "Serra do Mar", often being the only white people that got into huge
tracts of virgin forest.
When trying to analyze the cultural question in this period, unfortunately the reality we
are not so clear. In 1555, King of Portugal Dom João III, known as the pious, because of
their religious devotion, delivery to the Jesuits "The College of Arts", which under its
control and due to orders from Portugal, are prevalent throughout the culture of the
European metropolis . Because of this, and the use of a pedagogy based on scholastic,
the Jesuits have not benefited Portugal regarding to the study of natural and humanistic
philosophy and also due to experimentation that arose due to the Renaissance period
(Massaud, 1997: 25).
With that thought, the Portuguese culture that was still focused on the medieval
features, found himself lagging behind other European countries, presenting a focused
education for school books, artificial and without vision in which concerned issues of
the moment. The Portuguese took centuries to recognize its delay before other European
countries, and thus leave in search of that moment studying the other old world
countries.
This was the model of culture that the Jesuits, priests of the Society of Jesus founded by
St. Inacio de Loyola in 1534, brought to Brazil. When they arrived here in 1549 with the
first governor general of the regions of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Pará), set up
schools with the same function as the "College of the Arts", developing a work where
the study was focused on the philosophy, theology and other humanistic areas, because
they had the interest to train people to serve the order of St. Inacio de Loyola. With
these same values also dedicated to teaching the settlers and Indians, always directing
all the faith and the empire.
This humanist education, from the sixteen century portuguese, received the knowledge
of rhetoric, grammar and teaching from the textbooks. The responsibility for all culture
of the new land during the colonial period was in charge of the Jesuits, and it is believed
that without these priests the cultural situation of Brazil would be worse, so we owe
them the first schools in the new land, even though education intended content chosen
by the church.
The priests who were on missions in the jungles of Brazil, could not be directly
responsible for this dark, when we refer to literature. Several books were banned and
among them were, Diana´s Jorge Montemayor, works of Plautus, Terence, Horace,
Marcial and Ovidio, all philosophers. Were allowed purged or that have been adapted
according to the determined by the Roman College, created a year after the founding of
the Society of Jesus, aimed at education and training of students from the first year of
study until the last years of university.
The Jesuit order forbade recite verses and sonnets spiritual on religious events, but even
so, are the Jesuits who owe the first artistic events such as plays, paintings and poetry
because these were the only cultural activities in new land. The cultural activities of the
Jesuits were developed in two ways: first, with catechesis of the Indians whose goal was
to make them sociable for work and then make them christian, and the second they
aimed at educating the colonists, who felt free in a paradise, that was the land
discovered and yet not explored.
The Jesuits had their books, and its were directed to education in the form of fragments
of letters, reports and information on the new land, grammar, poetry and theater. The
last three modes of instruction had aimed only catechesis and education, but the main
function of the other categories was the knowledge of the land, so they can provide
information to the metropolis on everything that the Jesuits made in the new land. When
dealing with issues related to literature, only poetry and theater were their
representatives, the other categories belong to history, sociology, ethnography, etc.
Thus, there is no doubt in both cases that the aesthetic value of works is less than the
value historiographical, sociological, ethnographic and linguistic. Thus, several Jesuits
have left described their comments on the new land, especially in letters, telling facts on
the socio-geographical reality of Brazil, as well as his many wanderings in the interior
of the new land. Among them we can mention the principal: Manoel da Nobrega, José
de Anchieta and Fernão Cardim. Besides, Antonio Blásques, Leonardo do Vale, João de
Aspilcueta Navarro, Leonardo Nunes, Luis da Grã and Francisco Pires.
Conclusions
Thus, we are sure that were the Jesuits and the company of jesus the responsible for the
spread of missionary and educational work, influence on modern thought, in the
formation and articulation of modes of thought of the Jesuit priests who worked in
Brazil, thereby enabling a better understanding of our cultural heritage, especially in
Brazil, where the Jesuits have formalized the first school education known in this
country. Finally, as a result, have suffered due to religious training of the Jesuits,
literary manifestations with character more educator, missionary and ideological.
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