The Amazon has been a source of awe to outsiders at least since the first Europeans navigated the Amazon River in 1542. While early explorers searched the forest for a mythic city of gold, contemporary travelers, scientists, and concerned citizens look to the Amazon as the key to our endangered future. Focusing on a variety of textual and visual representations, we will deal with major themes in the history of the Amazon and consider the ways in which this vast and widely depicted region eludes representation, holding entirely different and contending meanings to distinct socio-cultural groups. Our sources include works by indigenous thinkers and cultural producers.
Program in Literature