Illustrations : 17 black and white illustrations in the text.
The Canudos massacre of 1897 is a pivotal episode in Brazilian social history. Looking at the event through the eyes of the inhabitants, Levine challenges traditional interpretations and gives weight to the fact that most of the Canudenses were mestizo and therefore perceived as opponents of progress and civilization. In 1897, Brazilian military forces destroyed the thousand-year-old settlement of Canudos, murdering up to 35,000 devout rural people who had taken refuge in the remote regions of northeastern Brazil. Fictionalised in Mario Vargas Llosa's famous novel, The War at the End of the World, Canudos is a crucial episode in Brazilian social history. However, when viewed through the eyes of the people of Canudos, this historical incident lends itself to a bold new interpretation that challenges traditional polemics on the subject. While the Canudos movement has always been seen as either a rebellion of crazed fanatics or a model of proletarian resistance to oppression, Levine skilfully demonstrates that it was in fact neither. Vale of Tears explores the reasons for Brazilian ambivalence about its social history, with a strong emphasis on the fact that most of the Canudenses were of mixed race. They were seen as opponents of progress and civilisation and, by inference, of Brazil's attempts to 'whitewash' itself. As a result, this book offers an important insight into the self-image of Brazilians over the last century.