Wolfaria: a Protestant utopia

• Grant number: 12/07498-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2012
• End date: November 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Literature Theory
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Ornelas Berriel
• Grantee: Julia Ciasca Brandão
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Written in 1521 and belonging to the set of two of the fifteen texts entitled Fünfzehn Bundesgenossen pamphleteers, Wolfaria, written by the German theologian Johann Eberlin von Günzburg, deals with the spiritual and temporal status of the fictional country of Wolfaria, a name that refers to a place where the well-being (Wohlfahrt) reigns. The connection to Thomas More's Utopia is evident. The German author, in a Platonic tradition, reflected on the real world through the ideal world. The pamphlets had significant impact in Eberlin's time and posterity. Some goals established by the peasants during the Peasants' War in the Twelve Articles of Memmingen (1525), were inspired in terms of the status of Wolfaria. The document is considered the first written opinion of human rights. There is no portuguese version of Wolfaria and this project will include the direct translation from German into Portuguese. We also intend to examine in a preliminary way the text of Eberlin in his historical and cultural context to investigate the possibility of determining it as belonging to the utopian literary genre.