Cannibal Angels: Transatlantic Modernism and the Brazilian Avant-Garde (Cultural History and Literary Imagination Book 33)

In the first three decades of the twentieth century, artists, writers, musicians, and architects from both sides of the Atlantic interacted to create a modern style for Brazil. Their works shaped Brazilian national expression and self-definition for the twentieth century and into the present, with renewed relevance as Brazil plays an increasingly important role in global affairs. Artists such as Tarsila do Amaral and Roberto Burle-Marx are appearing for the first time in museums in the United States and Europe, along with the concept of __antropofagia__ from the �Cannibal Manifesto�, a theory of cultural autonomy and a model for fusion, hybridity, and assimilation. This book offers a cultural history and interpretation of Brazilian modernism in the arts and letters, exploring how modernism depends on transatlantic negotiation and develops through interchanges between Brazilians and Europeans. "A cultural history and interpretation of Brazilian modernism in arts and letters demands a transatlantic point of view. Artists, writers, musicians, and architects from both sides of the Atlantic interact to create a modern style for Brazil that shapes national expression and self-definition for the twentieth century. The presence of Brazilians in Europe and of Europeans in Brazil and the intense interrelationships among them energize modernism from the century's first decades until the end of the 1920s. For the Brazilians, a main goal is to transform the historical transatlantic dynamic into international recognition for a Brazilian aesthetic in the arts, sharing the appeal of folk and musical traditions, indigenous cultures and societies, and the ideal of national modernization Many travelled to Europe to find their place in the world, with nothing to offer except their talent, their belief in themselves, and their desire to modernize their country. The 1928 Revista de Antropofagia (Cannibal Magazine), the theme of cannibalism codified in Oswald de Andrade's "Manifesto Antropófago" (Cannibal Manifesto), and the iconic image of the painting O Abaporu by Tarsila do Amaral are the works that orient a cultural history of the avant-garde. Through creative genius they shape the nature and definition of modernity for Brazil in the 20th century"-- Provided by publisher In the first three decades of the twentieth century, artists, writers, musicians, and architects from both sides of the Atlantic interacted to create a modern style for Brazil. Their works shaped Brazilian national expression and self-definition for the twentieth century and into the present, with renewed relevance as Brazil plays an increasingly important role in global affairs. Artists such as Tarsila do Amaral and Roberto Burle-Marx are appearing for the first time in museums in the United States and Europe, along with the concept of antropofagia from the «Cannibal Manifesto», a theory of cultural autonomy and a model for fusion, hybridity, and assimilation. This book offers a cultural history and interpretation of Brazilian modernism in the arts and letters, exploring how modernism depends on transatlantic negotiation and develops through interchanges between Brazilians and Europeans. This book is a cultural history and interpretation of Brazilian modernism in the arts and letters. In the first three decades of the twentieth century, artists, writers, musicians, and architects from both sides of the Atlantic interacted to create a modern style for Brazil, helping to define Brazilian national expression into the present.