Macunaíma, the hero without a character

“Macunaíma, the hero without a character” is the culmination of many years of research by the writer, poet, critic, and one of the founders of Brazilian modernism Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (1893–1945), who dedicated his whole life to the renewal of Brazilian art and thought.

The main character of the novel Macunaíma, a representative of the Amazonian Tapanhuan tribe, wanders the world in search of muirákitã — an amulet given to him by Si, the Mother of the Forests. These searches are repeatedly interrupted by various events reflecting the myths and legends of Brazil. The book combines different dialects, folklore, anthropology, and mythology, synthesizing Brazilian identity. However, there is also a biting critique of “Brazilianness.” Macunaíma is a slacker; he is only concerned with sensual pleasures; he is simultaneously an Indian, a black person, and a white person; all of this is a metaphor for a people that is just beginning to form, and therefore he “has no character.” Nevertheless, the character of Macunaíma allowed Andrade to achieve what Brazilian modernism so aspired to — to establish an understanding, attentive dialogue between “high” and popular culture. This edition includes a detailed glossary and Oswald de Andrade’s “Manifesto of the Anthropophagists.”