The representation of indigenous peoples by a ghost publisher

Abstract

We take as our object of analysis two books – “Yanomamis” and “Tupinambás” – which are part of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil Collection, a collection of supplementary educational books for children published by Editora Nova Leitura. Given that the collection is classified in the largest digital bookstore (Amazon) as “indigenous literature,” we explore the characteristics that literary critics attribute to indigenous literature in order to contrast the features pointed out by the literary reception with the books examined. As we did not identify authorship (neither of the text nor of the images) in the books that make up the collection, we explore questions concerning the role of the editor as a mediator of information, as well as questions concerning indigenous authorship from a decolonial perspective, the repetitions and manipulations of illustrations in the books of the collection, and the exploitation of indigenous intellectual property. The result is that indigenous peoples do not have their right to self-determination respected by the editorial universe examined here.