Mito e História n’A Guayrá, de Rocha Pombo

Abstract

This work has the objective of developing an analysis of the relations between Myth and History in the epic poem A Guayrá, written by Rocha Pombo, a Parana’s writer and historian. Published in 1891, A Guayrá is an Indianist epic poem which addresses the American colonization process through the Indian perspective, showing their point of view about the slavery, extermination by the Europeans and the religious and cultural imposition they were submitted. Is focalized the history of the Spanish colonization of Paraná’s territory, known as Guairá’s Province, and also the history of the Inca Empire. The historical events are mixed with elements of American’s native people mythology, beliefs and cultural traditions. To fundament the proposed analysis, initially it is considered the main characteristics and particularities of the epic genre, based on Staiger’s (1997), Bakhtin’s (2014) and Silva’s (2007) observations. In the sequence, it is addressed the connections between History and Myth, according to Le Goff’s (1990) and Eliade’s (1972, 1992) reflections. Using the historiographic data available in a variety of works, including Rocha Pombo’s publications, it is presented the several historic references embodied in the epic poem. It is verified that, when addressing the Spanish colonization of Guairá’s Province (a region that nowadays is the state of Parana), A Guayrá depicted the state’s history through a sense of marvelous, by including Guarani Indians’ mythological and cultural deities, such as Tupã. Similarly, by narrating the creation of a war alliance between the “guayrenses” Indians and the Inca Empire against the Spanish people, ensured by the idea of Peabiru road’s ancestral path, the epic poem develops the representativity of the continent during the European conquest through a Pan-American ideal. This unification of American history, structed with Indian mythology elements, points to an intention to construct an idealized mythical past for America. It was stablished that A Guayrá presents a critical perspective about the conquest of the continent, reporting and lamenting the annihilation of American native people and the suffering for the loss of their traditions and for the defeat of their gods by the European colonization and catechization. So, it is observed that the epic poem also addresses the fall of the American mythical past, overcome by the trail of the occidental History, which lead to the establishment of the European culture and society in the New World. However, the narrative also announces a constitution of a prosper future for the American continent, in which the mythological bases of the idealized past will form the foundation that will stablish a great destiny for the continent. According to these reflections about A Guayrá it is considered the pertinence of Rocha Pombo’s Works for the literary studies, emphasizing the relevance to develop further analysis of the author, about whom the academic circles had not dedicated considerable research. So, it is expected that this work can contribute for the development of future reflections about the author and his literary production.