The new letters of Brazil: An e-pistolary of the indigenous peoples

Abstract

In this paper, I return to the concept of epistolarium, proposed by Stanley (2004) and to how this notion finds in the idea of the letter as an act (LEJEUNE, 2008), a place/non-place of its forms and nonspecificity. Thus, I discuss the development of an e-pistolary by indigenous peoples, through a critical analysis of the letters published in the website/archive “As cartas dos povos indígenas ao Brasil” (Letters of the indigenous peoples to Brazil). Initially, I define what I call indigenous e-pistolary, and how its organization differs from epistolary archives of renowned writers. I do so to defend the idea that the letters written by the indigenous people are the new letters of Brazil: a path to a discussion about indigenous postal art and the place of their letters in Brazilian literature and history.

Keywords:
Indigenous peoples; letters; epistolary; Brazil