Beyond Devouring: Antropofagia in Mário de Andrade’s Macunaíma

This project investigates the presence of anthropophagistic ideologies and elaboration methods in the novel Macunaíma by Mário de Andrade. This is the first archival research carried out in the course of this project, however the project is a development of the undergraduate dissertation of the same title written by the author at the University of Manchester. The research consisted of a close-reading and examination of the author's notes, manuscripts, and personal correspondence concerning the novel. The findings include various citations and passages from Mário de Andrade in support of an anthropophagistic interpretation of the novel. These will be used in conjunction with a wide range of evidence from the novel itself to prove that such a reading is valid. However, the research opened up a further question: are anthropophagistic elements in the text there by design, or by coincidence?