ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: REFASHIONING THE LEGACIES OF LAMPIÃO, CHE GUEVARA, AND BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS IN LITERATURE AND FILM Andrew Frederick Milacci, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Professor Regina Harrison Department of Spanish and Portuguese This dissertation focuses on the refashioning of complex legacies of prominent, yet controversial, figures in Latin America in both literature and film: the contemporary Brazilian bandit Lampião, the twentieth-century revolutionary Che Guevara, and the colonial era priest and polemicist Bartolomé de Las Casas. I argue that, like storytelling and collective/social memory, history is a continuing narrative that serves specific ends (Hayden White) and is framed by ideological perspectives (Walter Benjamin). Furthermore, by expanding upon Stephen Greenblatt’s concept of Renaissance self- fashioning, I introduce the idea of refashioning—when societies reimagine history, generally apart from or in contrast to dominant narratives—as a postmodern phenomenon of remaking the other. An analysis of the textual origins of the legacies reveals the constraints that genre (cordel, diary, and historical essay) imposed on the writing of their lives. Furthermore, these same texts are reshaped as the film directors adapt the written texts to fit the confines of film and the expectations of the audience. In this manner, we observe how both history and genre become malleable as the individuals’ legacies are rendered anew cinematically. Specifically, in the Brazilian sertão, popular lyrical cordel pamphlets merge oral and written traditions, as well as “official” and “popular” history and lore to mythologize the bandit Lampião and refashion the outlaw’s legacy in largely positive terms. This legacy, which is developed in the verses of cordel chapbooks, undergirds Glauber Rocha’s film Antônio das Mortes (1969) both stylistically and ideologically. Che Guevara’s travel “diaries,” which are constructed within the conventions of the travel diary and autobiography, reveal that Che, unlike Lampião, very much shaped his own revolutionary image. Walter Salles’ film The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) relies heavily on Che’s diaries, yet the director weaves a modern interpretation of historical events in the life of this now-iconic revolutionary, and the result is a “filmed diary” that ultimately becomes part of the “official” (auto)biography of Guevara’s life. Finally, the sixteenth-century friar Bartolomé de Las Casas provides another example of a man who actively shapes his image via writing. His Historia de las Indias and Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias craft an image of the priest within the context of the conquest of the New World and reveal the controversial nature of his philosophical stance as one who fought for indigenous rights, albeit from the top down. The politics of historicity are played out in Icíar Bollaín’s film También la lluvia (2010), as the director incorporates Las Casas’ texts into a fictional film script that frames the friar in contemporary terms and situates his legacy in human rights activism for indigenous peoples. Thus, I conclude that these texts and films compose additional nuanced accounts of the three historical figures’ legacies: the texts and the filmic representations uncover the complex relationships between “legitimate” or “official” histories and the refashioning of these individuals in popular memory. REFASHIONING THE LEGACIES OF LAMPIÃO, CHE GUEVARA, AND BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS IN LITERATURE AND FILM by Andrew Frederick Milacci Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Regina Harrison, Chair Professor Sandra Cypess Professor Regina Igel Professor Ana Patricia Rodríguez Professor Nelly Stromquist ©Copyright by Andrew Frederick Milacci 2015 ii Dedication For Joice. iii Acknowledgements When I began the PhD program at the University of Maryland, I framed and hung on my wall a piece of parchment-like paper on which I had printed the words “Insert PhD here... soon. You can do it!” That frame has hung to the right of my office desk for some four-and-a-half years now, and I see it everyday—it reminds me of the end goal. Though the end is in sight, and shortly I hope to replace that piece of paper with a diploma that bears my name, honestly, I’m not sure to what extent this accomplishment is my own, for I owe it just as much to my family, friends, and mentors’ support and encouragement as I do to my own hard work. First and foremost, I would like to thank God for this opportunity to learn, grow, and meet such wonderful people. I have always hoped and prayed that my work would be a testament to his faithfulness and grace than a crown of personal achievement. I must also thank Joice, my wife, who has never failed to lend a sympathetic ear or offer a timely word of encouragement. She’s also my best friend and my favorite part of every single day. She’s also the reason why I became interested in Brazil and the Portuguese language. Without her, I would never have come this far. Thanks, also, to my parents for their love and sacrifice. They are my role models, and I love and owe so much to them. Finally, a special word of gratitude to Dr. Regina Harrison for her continued expertise and support. Her belief in me and my work gave me the confidence I needed to take on this project and see it to completion. She is a first-rate scholar and mentor, and I am ever grateful for how she has guided and invested personally in me. iv These are the “highlights,” as it were, and there so many others who deserve a mention here, of which I will name my 2010 “cohort”—Chris, Doug, and Ann—by name, not to mention all my friends and colleagues in the program at Maryland. A final word of thanks to the subjects of my study, for they led me down paths previously unknown and, in the process, taught me a lot about humanity and the human spirit. In the Bible, it is said that “scales” fell off Saul’s eyes a few days after his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, and I suspect something very similar has happened to me these past years—I’ll never see things the same way again. v Table of Contents Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Walter Benjamin, Hayden White, and the Politics of History.................................5 Refashioning History: Storytelling, (Collective) Memory, and the Sign..............17 Refashioning the Lives of Latin American Historical Figures..............................40 Film, History, and Ideology: The Mind’s Eye on Screen......................................43 Moving toward Refashioning: Literary Foundations and Filmic Representations ...............................................................................................................................55 Literature vs. Film or Literature and Film?...........................................................61 Chapter I: Refashioning Banditry: Lampião, the Cordel, and Glauber Rocha’s Antônio das Mortes............................................................................................................64 Historical Context and Biography of Lampião......................................................69 The Rise of the Cangaço............................................................................70 A Brief Biography of the Bandit Lampião................................................75 The Rise of the Bandit King......................................................................79 The Origins and (Revisionist) History of the Cordel.............................................89 The Cordel and the Refashioning of Lampião.....................................................103 Portrayals of Lampião in the Cordel....................................................................114 Lampião in Film: Antônio das Mortes.................................................................123 Lampião the Social Bandit...................................................................................131 Lampião as Example and Icon.............................................................................141 Lampião as National Symbol...............................................................................144 Conclusion...........................................................................................................148 Chapter II: Refashioning the Revolutionary: Che’s Notas de viaje and Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries as (auto)Biography of a Revolutionary Turn............................151 From Ernesto to Che: Early Life and Travels......................................................155 Che the Self-Fashioning Revolutionary: Texts of a Man in a Continual State of Becoming.............................................................................................................163 Revolution, Evolution, and Che-volution: the Transforming Legacy of a Revolutionary.......................................................................................................175 The Motorcycle Diaries as Chronicle of Che’s Revolutionary Transformation..191 The Motorcycle Diaries as a Filmed Diary..........................................................218 Conclusion...........................................................................................................241 Chapter