From the conventional explanation that speaks of a certain type of wood to Celtic mythology, the name of the country transports meanings before the concept of nation. Understand how the country was “baptized”. It is probably the way you learned at school. When the Portuguese fleet led by Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467-1520) contributed in the Brazilian territory today on April 22, 1500, the first portion and then conquered was called the island of Vera Cruz, then the land of Vera Cruz, then the land of Santa Cruz, then Santa Cruz and only then, Brazil.
It must also have learned that the nomenclature of Brazil had to do with the abundance of Costa-Brazil stick then invaded, and this wood has this name with the reddish tone of the paint that is extracted from it, from which the analogy between color and embers, embers and namewood.
In a sense, all this can be understood as truth. But with the care necessary for the fact that the history of truth is also a construction – and over 525 years, various interests have exceeded in the mythical and national construction of the country that would later arise in these lands, the federative republic of today’s Brazil.
“The nomenclature were mixed by the profusion and composition of descriptions, relationships and a lot of imagination. The analog thought predominated in the understanding and explanation of the modern world. This is not a linear reasoning. It is ordered by approximations between images and meanings attributed, by inaccurate, symbolic and interpretation data”, says the historian Paolo Henrique Martinez, Professor a state (UNSS).
The baptism of a country
Brazil is often said to be a rare example of a country with “birth certificate”. In this case, the letter signed by Registrar Pero Vaz de Caminha (1450-1500), a member of the Cabral fleet, to be reported to the Portuguese crown during the journey, as the first document written in the Brazilian territory.
Dated May 1, 1500, it provides information on how the first Portuguese called these lands. Around April 22, he comments that the captain, in the Cabral case, called Mountain for the first time identified by Monte Pascal – was Easter time – and “On Earth, land of Vera Cruz”.
According to the study of the linguist Maria Vicentina do Amarall Dick (1936-2024), who was a professor at the University of San Paolo (USP) and became known as a notorious toponymies expert, this choice was not by chance: the expedition had been managed by Cabral, as AMULET, as chips of what was believed, as a relimeting, for being managed in the case. So the baptism of Vera Cruz, that is “true cross”.
Caminha’s same letter, however, is signed as “from your island of Vera Cruz”. Which indicates a confusion, in the head of those pioneers, as regards the size of the lands won.
Gradually, in the documentation, it is observed that the island that loses space for the earth and Vera Cruz is simplified in Santa Cruz. Other names also coexist. Pintarama, with an indigenous language. Land of parrots, for the abundance of these birds here.
But it also looks like Brazil, it’s true.
The different nomenclature lived. Just like the territorial idea of the then Portuguese colony in America was a widespread, fluid, inaccurate reality. There was, in this principle of colonization, which referred to the territory as the new Lusitania and Cabrália – in honor of Pedro Álvares Cabral – for example. “In 1501, the Portuguese used the name Terra Nova, reflecting the novelty of the discovery”, underlines the historic Vitor Soares, from the history of podcasts in half an hour.
The first post-school map to write the word Brazil is the planiferous of Cantino, 1502 At the end of the same decade, the Portuguese cosmographer Duarte Pacheco Pereira (1460-1533) calls the “Terra do Brasil from abroad” region.
According to the historian Martinez, consent was established on the etymological explanation for the name of Brazil, that is, by connecting the name of the earth to the name of Madeira “, was established […] from political pragmatism and the construction of the national imagination of the nineteenth century. “That is: before it was not taught that Brazil was called Brazil because of the Sequoia.
The historian Soares recalls that this is the most accepted explanation for the name of the country: the origin “directly related to the exploration of the sequoia, abundant tree on the Atlantic coast and highly appreciated by the Europeans [da época] Eplo their red dye. “” The Portuguese began to call the Terrestrial region of Brazil at the beginning of the 16th century and, shortly after, the name was simply reduced to Brazil, “he says.
Professor to the Social Service of Industry (Sesi) and UNESP researcher, the historic Bruna Gomes Fa Reis underlines that a “theory” is the idea that the name of Brazil derives from Madeira Pau-Brazil. “Madeira’s reddish tincture was already known by the Portuguese and had variations in the name […] Which means that the red or red color “, he says, remembering that then the authors of the colonial period, such as the Jesuit José de Anchieta (1534-1597) end up spreading the name of Brazil in the area.”[Mas] It is undeniable that the word Brazil would come first. “
Reis recalls that the historic Laura de Mello and Souza, professor at Sorbonne University, in France, says that the word Brazil was “a name in search of a place”. This has to do with Celtic mythology, however surprising it may seem.
“The name Brazil preceded the geographical position,” comments the philosopher and educator Marcos da Silva and Silva, professor at the School of Advertising and Marketing (ESPM).
The Celtic version
While on the one hand it seems much sense to think of Brazil as a reference to sequoia, therefore the first wealth explored by the Portuguese in the territory, on the other hand it is intriguing to realize that the name Brazil and some variants are already present in the European maps and documents before the episode known as “discovery”.
This is very curious and indicates that, like Atlantis and other mythical lands, the idea of Brazil as a place of paradise was already present in the European imagination.
“From the early Middle Ages [do ano 476 até o ano 1000]Legends circulated on a mysterious island called HY-Brazil […]. In one of his books related to the theme, the researcher Barbara Freitag [socióloga e brasilianista, professora emérita da Universidade de Brasília] He explains that this island appeared in several nautical maps between the 14th and 19th centuries, being interpreted, for example, on the map of Angelino Dulcert, 1325, and Atlas De Andrea Bianco, 1436 “, says Soares.
Silva and Silva comments that “European maps [feitos] Between 1351 and 1500 it described Brazil “, with various spelling, to” designate a different place, an island. “It was like a mirage, a special land that would exist.
“The island has been described as visible only once every seven years, emerging from the fog as a” Celtic paradise “or” Benedetta Isola “”, adds Soares. Brazil would therefore derive from the word “Bress” Celtic, which means “bless”.
Kings recalls that this explanation derives from “old traditions and legends that speak of Atlantic islands lost in time and space”, bliss, lucky and mystical. “” Therefore, the relationship with the territory discovered in America would be that they were paradisiacal places, as described the first letters of Caminha, Mystics and still explored, “he comments.
Indigenous names
Among the native inhabitants, it is understandable to imagine that there was no name that included the entire territory: after all, at least 3.5 million indigenous people of about 1,000 different people lived here.
The name Pintarama, for example, which in the end was agreed as the way the indigenous people called Brazil, would be the way in which a people referred to a part of the earth. “Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands we call Brazil today were a mosaic of indigenous territories, each with their own toponyms, long before any idea of” country “unified, explains Soares.
The Tupi, who dominated the coastal track, called him Pintarama, Tupi Pindó, “Palmeira” and Rama, “Place”, that is, Palmeiras Land “
“Culturally distinct and occupants’ discontinuous places, the indigenous people who lived in Brazil before the arrival of the Portuguese did not organize themselves from a cultural, geographical, linguistic or any other unit,” recalls Reis. “Space fragmentation prevailed. In addition to the notion of territorial unity, the national state and the country were concepts that were not part of indigenous thought”.
The birth of Brazil
If the reference to the name of Brazil appears from before the invasion of the territory itself, it is important to remember that historians have a consensus that Brazil did not exist in 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese. This is because the idea of the nation, of the country, is necessarily after independence – first, what was a Portuguese colony, although at a certain point it was called Brazil.
Therefore, the country was also born in 1822 – for some experts, only in 1889, with the announcement of the Republic.
“The understanding of when Brazil was no longer just a series of colonial captain to affirm himself as a nation involves much more than formal milestones,” says Soares. “But also the symbolic narratives that were forging a collective consciousness.”
“In addition to political events [como Independência e Proclamação da República]Brazil’s consolidation as a symbolic and cultural entity involves the establishment of founding myths “, he says”. Brazil as a full nation was not born in a single day. “
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
