Pocahontas ataca de nuevo: "Iracema" o la importancia de la figura del mestizo en la sociedad brasileña actual

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Abstract: Since the discovery of Brazil in 1500, there have been a great number of writings in Brazilian Literature that deal with the figure of the Indian. It is well known that, especially in the Romantic period, the Indian character is highly idealized in most literary works. It is in this context that Iracema by José de Alencar appears, which bears astonishing similarities to the Pocahontas legend narrated by John Smith in The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles. This paper has two main purposes: 1) to establish the parallels between Iracema and Pocahontas, both as literary works and in their social and historical significance; and 2) to divert the attention paid by Romantic writers from the Indian figure towards that of the mestizo, as we see in Alencar’s work, where the mestizo character Moacir sets the preamble of the racial mosaic in Brazilian society today. In this sense, it is imperative to establish the relevance of Iracema as a 19th century work with contemporary significance.