PAIVA, Nádia Diniz de Melo.; AGUIAR, José Otávio.
Résumé:
The research distinguishes itself by creating a discussion about the images and views from travelling
naturalists that have been in the Brazilian Northeast at the end of the 18th, beginning of the 19th
century, regarding the natural environment of this region. The aim is to investigate the inter-relations
between culture and nature in the work of the travelling naturalist Manuel Arruda Câmara, according to
his view from the Backlands of Northeast Captanias during the Colony-Empire transition. It is possible
to observe that despite the scientist worked at the region to meet political and economical interests
from the Portugal King, he exalts the tropical colonies nature and tries to highlight the Brazilian
population. Moreover, even being part of the Portuguese-Brazilian “illustrated generation”, his
nationalism allowed him to give credits to the colonial environment.