“As famosas Amazonas que deram nome ao rio”: a elaboração de um conceito de Amazônia pelo padre intelectual João Daniel (1722-1776)

Abstract

This work analyzes some of the exchanges generated around the work of Father João Daniel (1722-1776) and the uses that it indicates for the words “Amazônia” and “Amazonas”, both subscribing to an already established written tradition on the regional theme and providing meanings that would be used later. The suggestion for this reading is what could be called “historical hermeneutics”, the idea supported by Hans Georg Gadamer according to which the conditions for interpreting a historical text require the “fusion of horizons” between the interpreter of the work and its author, and that such a fusion requires an understanding of the conditions of language use at a specific historical moment. The works in question were produced by the priest during his period in prison and organized in Brazil with the titles of “Tesouro Descoberto no Máximo Rio Amazonas” (2004) and “Livro do rio maximo do Padre João Daniel” (2012). In it, João Daniel carefully explains the conditions of life in the Amazon hinterland, tries to create a mental map that makes the region's population clear, as well as deals with the specificities of what, in his vocabulary, appears as "Amazon state", the region interconnected by the flow of the great river.