The Amazon disputed between France and Brazil

Abstract

This article was written from the translation and analysis of historical questions, records of documents, and notes made in the chapter “The Amazon disputed between France and Brazil” (L'Amazonie contestée entre la France et le Brésil) contained in the work The French in the Amazon (Les français en Amazonie), book presenting texts and travel reports written by Henri A. Coudreau, published in 1887. The version used was consulted from the digital collection of the Université de Guyane (UG), which contains illustrations and records made for didactic and school purposes at the end of the 19th century. Thus, we discuss the main issues raised during the process of translation from old French to Brazilian Portuguese, considering the perspective presented by the geographer on the territorial disputes and the limits of the former colonies established in the Amazon, especially in French Guiana. In addition to questions about the translation process, we also deal with deterministic thinking of the time when Eurocentric positioning is recorded during expeditions through the region, which directly reflects the critical position in the writing of the traveler. The chosen work was elaborated from the notes of Coudreau and became texts adapted to textbooks in French Guiana in the 19th century, integrating teaching in the conception of national education. We also highlight the author’s position on borders, contested territories, the identities of the peoples of the region, and certain notes on the politics of the time. To make the theoretical contextualization of the historical information presented, we used the studies made by Garrido (1940) and Magalhães (2006).