Macunaíma (novel)
Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Mário de Andrade |
|---|---|
| Original title | Macunaíma, o herói sem nenhum caráter |
| Translators | Katrina Dodson Carl L. Engel |
| Language | Portuguese English |
| Publisher | Oficinas Gráficas de Eugênio Cupolo |
Publication date | 1928 |
| Publication place | Brazil |
Published in English | 1984 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 224 pp |
| ISBN | 0811227022 |
Macunaíma (Portuguese pronunciation: [makũna'ĩmɐ]) is a 1928 novel by Brazilian writer Mário de Andrade. It is one of the founding texts of Brazilian modernism. Macunaíma was published six years after the "Semana de Arte Moderna", which marked the beginning of the Brazilian modernism movement.
The novel follows a young man, Macunaíma, "a hero without any character," born in the Brazilian jungle and possessing strange and remarkable abilities—mostly shapeshifting—, as he travels to São Paulo and back again. The protagonist is often considered a representation of the Brazilian personality. The novel employs a composite structure using elements of what would later be called magic realism and a number of dialects of both interior Brazil and São Paulo. It is based on Andrade's research in language, culture, folklore, and music of the indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Macunaíma was first published in English by Random House in 1984 in a translation by E. A. Goodland. In 2023, two new English translations were published: one by Carl Engel, published by King Tide Press; and another by Katrina Dodson, published by New Directions, with an introduction by John Keene.