Colonial Brazil Analysis

Hans Staden became a representational go-between due to a necessity to remain alive. He was lucky in that he attained all the skills necessary to perform this role before he was even aware that being multilingual and understanding multiple cultural practises would come to save his life. Of German descent, he traveled to Portugal and then Spain to seek out adventure, new cultures, status and wealth in the New World. Writing about the “savages” in his first hand account of his experience in the captivity of the Tupinamba, Staden describes a world alien to that of Europe, but one in to which he integrated and adapted in order to survive. However, it is controversial to assume that Staden was entirely objective in his retelling of events. Although …show more content…
However, considering representational go-betweens, such as Hans Staden are one of the only sources of information about colonial Brazil, they must be examined, albeit with a critical eye as they provide valuable information about the peoples’ practises during the 16th century. “Physical go-betweens were the sailors and crew members” “who linked islands, coastlines, forests…and the people who inhabited them,” slaves were oftentimes used as go-betweens as well as colonists themselves. Subsequently, it can be deducted that almost anyone could play the role of a go-between. A new people were even created through the mixing of indigenous and Europeans, and Europeans with Africans, thus resulting in children familiar to multiple customs and languages who were ideal to act as representational …show more content…
Believed Portuguese, Staden knew his only chance at freedom was through the deception or “dissimulation” of convincing the Tupinamba that he was actually French, or at least planting “a seed of doubt” about his being Portuguese. Therefore, from the outset Staden attempts to deceive the Brazilian natives, thus bringing modern readers to question his integrity in his later retelling of his story. For example, when Staden insists that the angry moon “is looking toward…[the] hut” of a Tupinamba man, the people later take this to mean Staden’s god is angry because they are attempting to kill a Frenchman, not a Portuguese and thus sickness falls on the camp. He is therefore saved from the ridicule which a Portuguese man can expect from the Tupinamba. Staden continuously manipulates his captors through his use of different languages and knowledge of various cultures. Therefore, it is questionable whether he was attempting to manipulate his audience as well. Furthermore, in Section III of his account Staden attempts to qualify the validity of his account stating, “now if there is any young fellow, who is not satisfied with this description and these witnesses, then let him, with God’s help, undertake the voyage himself, lest he should live in doubt.” Does this beg the