Iracema

by de Alencar, José; Landers, Clifford E.; Lindstrom, Naomi; Villaca, Alcides

• ISBN13: 9780195115482
• ISBN10: 0195115481
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Jose de Alencar's prose-poem Iracema, first published in 1865, is a classic of Brazilian literature--perhaps the most widely-known piece of fiction within Brazil, and the most widely-read of Alencar;s many works. Set in the sixteenth century, it is an extremely romantic portrayal of a doomedlive between a Portuguese soldier and an Indian maiden. Iracema reflects the gingerly way that mid-nineteenth century Brazil dealt with race mixture and multicultural experience. Precisely because of its nineteenth-century romanticism, Iracema strongly contributed to a Brazilian sense ofnationhood--contemporary Brazilian writers and literary critics still cite it as a foundation for their own work.

Table of Contents

Series Editors' General Introduction	vii
Foreword	xi
Naomi Lindstrom
Translator's Note	xxv
Iracema	I
Jose de Alencar
Notes	115	(16)
Letter to Dr. Jaguaribe	131	(8)
Afterword	139
Alcides Villaca