JEAN DE LÉRY INSIDE OUT: Tupinambá anthropophagy and the production of contra-colonial knowledge

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the text “History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil” written by Jean de Léry then read critically the 16th century scientific shield as structured by the colonial relations and significations. Thus we tried to analyze the text in two different, but complementary ways: the first criticizing the objectifying description as a mechanism of colonial knowledge production and the second, realizing a reading against the grain, thereby avoiding the modern and colonial representation of the tupinambás, presenting them instead as subjects of contra-colonial knowledge production, by means of the anthropophagy process. Lastly we explored the resumption of this anthropophagic form of knowledge production, taking as an example the work of Glicéria Tupinambá. As a result, we understand that anthropophagic thought could contain within itself the capacity to disrupt scientific thought, and its inbuilt colonial principles.