The Challenge of Representing Ethno-Literature: The Case of Macunaima's Decolonial Glossary

Abstract

Among the challenges in organizing ethnoknowl­edge is adhering to the theoretical methodological principle of literary warrant. This paper seeks to build a terminological tool that meets both the principle of literary warrant and the decolonial perspective. In Mário de Andrade’s work Macunaíma, we identified the connection with an ethno- literature that served us as a literary warrant for constructing a notional system grounded in a decolonial perspective. The corpus was compiled from the glossary produced by M. Cavalcanti Proença. Proença’s research drew from Tupinologist sources, comprising records of an ethno-literature previously unknown to us. These records are rooted in narratives of the once-forgotten General Language of the Amazon, the Nheengatu. Proença's sources also include the Brazilian South Americanist Capistrano de Abreu, and the German ethnologist Theodor Koch-Grünberg. The research identified 2112 entries consisting of terms and synonyms. Each entry was accompanied by a definition that considered both the semantic aspect and the historical context. Collectively, these entries grant us with the depth and richness of Brazilian vocabulary at its roots. Despite encountering representation challenges akin to those in interdisciplinary spaces, the Macunaíma’s Decolonial Glossary will contribute to the documentation of the National Inventory of Linguistic Diversity.