The Amerindian body, Luso-indigenous alliances, and the image of a unified nation in the works of Inezil Penna Marinho (1940-1952)

Abstract

From 1930 onwards, particularly after 1937, with the introduction of the Estado Novo, Vargas’s policies redefined miscegenation as a distinctive trace of Brazilian identity. In the process, he invested efforts to incorporate the indigenous element into the discourse of national identity, as a strategy to bolster the image of Brazil as a cohesive and free of racial/ethnic barriers country. Considering the context of that period, this paper analyses the representations published by Inezil Penna Marinho regarding the Amerindian body and the interactions between indigenous people and the Portuguese during the colonial period, relating these perceptions to the discussions on national identity that were gathering momentum as of the Estado-Novo. A relevant figure in the field of Physical Education and affiliated with the Estado-Novo regime, Marinho imprinted those concepts in the publications where he rewrote the memories of Physical Education, by restoring body practices from Brazil’s colonial past. Regarding the sources, a part of the author’s work was reviewed, mainly the ones addressing the History of Physical Education in Brazil.