IBGE releases Atlas of Literary Representations of Brazilian Regions

The four-volume series presents satellite images, photographs and maps of the areas used as sceneries for the greatest works of Brazilian literature

IBGE has just released the first volume of the Atlas of Literary Representations of Brazilian Regions, a previously unseen, innovative project which identifies and characterizes geographic regions mentioned in works of important Brazilian novelists, such as Érico Veríssimo, Cyro Martins and Simões Lopes Neto.

In 86 pages, subdivided into four chapters, the Atlas shows photographs, satellite images and maps of different scales of meridional Brazil: Campanha Gaúcha, Vale do Itajaí and the North of the state of Paraná. There is a special chapter about the Jesuit Missions which, in spite of not being a geographical region in the country, are deeply connected to the process of formation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Each chapter shows the area with its original geographic characteristics, according to geographers from IBGE and from other institutions. This part of the Atlas contains texts and maps and is followed by a reference to the region from a literary perspective and by excerpts of novels which can illustrate this mix – in a chapter titled Region and Romance. Finally, there are maps showing the exact position of the area mentioned in the novels and also photographs of images of it.

The idea of contextualizing regional literature geographically first appeared in 2002 and was implemented, at first in the IBGE School Atlas. The aim was to facilitate the incorporation of Literature and other subjects of Human Sciences to/into the teaching of Geography. Then, a more detailed work started being developed, having resulted in the four-volume collection of the Atlas of Literary Representations of  Brazilian Regions.

The next three volumes of the Atlas will be dedicated to the Brazilian Deserts, the Amazon and the Brazilian Coast, still aiming at quality of information and once more using geography in a dynamic way.