In the light of “civilization”

indigenous representations in voyagers' narratives (MT, 19th-20th century)

Abstract

Crossing the threshold of the 19^th to the 20^th century, Spencer’s evolutionism, Gobineau’s scientific racism and Comte’s laws, exerted a strong influence on Western scientific thinking, guided State policies and served as interventions justifications and incorporation of large parts of the world to the dynamics of capitalism expansion. In this context, both Mato Grosso and its mostly indigenous inhabitants were considered as “hostile”, “barbaric”, waiting for “colonization”, distant from “civilization”. Travelers from several fields went to the hitherto unknown territory, seeking for economic potentials, besides the "exotic". The purpose of the article is to understand the representations of the territory and its inhabitants from discursive analysis of travelers' reports.