Native and National in Brazil

“This well-written, sophisticated study provides indispensable insights into the uses and constructions of indigenous identities. Highly recommended. Graduate students/faculty.” — CHOICE

“In this engaging interdisciplinary book, Tracy Devine Guzmán examines how mainstream Brazilian society has represented ‘Indians’ from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, and how indigenous peoples have sought to decolonize those representations and define their own identity.” — American Historical Review

“A welcome addition to the growing literature on indigenism in Brazil and the Americas.” — Hispanic American Historical Review

“A refreshing sense of self-awareness….Engaging and reflective.” — Native American and Indigenous Studies

“A masterful balance between representation and reality of the represented, Natives and National helps students at all levels plumb the depths of the ‘indigenous question.’ . . . Should be included on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the indigenous studies or in Brazilian history or literature.” — H-Net Reviews

“Captures the complex and contradictory history of representations of indigenous peoples in Brazil and offers a sensitive and theoretically sophisticated treatment of the relationship between indigeneity and the Brazilian state — between national belonging and the lived experience of difference. A welcome addition to the growing literature on indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere.” — Jan Hoffman French, University of Richmond

“Through a stunning analysis of government documents, literary and artistic representations, media images, and indigenous-authored texts and websites, Tracy Devine Guzmán explores the deep chasm that has cleaved representations of Brazil’s indigenous peoples from their lived experiences. Elegantly written and theoretically sophisticated, Native and National in Brazil highlights how colonialist patterns of violence, acculturation, and exclusion have been historically reproduced in Brazil, as well as challenged by indigenous leaders and intellectuals. Devine Guzmán’s scholarship exemplifies the multidisciplinary potential of cultural studies at its finest.” — Seth Garfield, author of Indigenous Struggle at the Heart of Brazil: State Policy, Frontier Expansion, and the Xavante Indians, 1937-1988

“With this brilliant study of the complex negotiation between a renewed sense of indigeneity and a more flexible and inclusive Brazilian national identity, beyond the traditional 'fable of the three races,' Tracy Devine Guzmán establishes herself as one of the most original interpreters of Brazil in U.S. academic circles.” — Luiz F. Valente, Brown University

“Lucid, intelligent, and thoroughly researched, this book tracks 150 years of public policy and official imaginings around indigenous peoples in Brazil and the continuing contestatory work of indigenous leaders and thinkers. Native and National in Brazil offers students of global indigeneity indispensable access to the Brazilian scenario, whose unfolding will shape the future of indigenous peoples worldwide.” — Mary Louise Pratt, New York University