Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart in Catherine Hardwicke’s Twilight (top); Robert Pattinson, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed in Chris Weitz’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon (bottom). Does this man look like a "Libishomem" to you?
In The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, officially two movies, Brazilians (and those familiar with the Portuguese language) will get a kick out of listening to Edward (Robert Pattinson) talk about the "Libishomem" myth.
In Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, while Edward and Bella (Kristen Stewart) are on their honeymoon on an island off of Rio de Janeiro, a Brazilian couple arrive to clean their home. One of them, a small, dark-skinned woman called Kaure, is part Ticuna Indian; Kaure is visibly afraid of Edward.
"They have their own legends here," Edward explains to Bella. "The Libishomem — a blood-drinking demon who preys exclusively on beautiful women." Edward, with his pale skin and glossy, honey-colored eyes, apparently looks just like one of those "Libishomem."
What’s funny, of course, is that there’s no such thing as a blood-drinking "Libishomem" in Brazilian lore, and certainly not among Indian tribes. Indians (the relatively few that are left in that country) have their own myths and legends, but lobisomem (note the spelling) isn’t one of them. That’s an European legend — one that has nothing to do with vampires — the Portuguese brought with them to Brazil: lobisomem = Portuguese for "werewolf" (lobo, wolf + homem, man). That would be Jacob, not Edward. (I can’t figure out why Meyer didn’t simply use the Portuguese word "vampiro.")
As an aside, I also wondered what the heck a Ticuna Indian was doing in Rio de Janeiro. Since I’d never heard of that ethnic group (neither had any of my Brazilian friends), I did an online search that led me to a species of jumping spiders. I then wondered why in hell Meyer would use the name of a jumping spider for Breaking Dawn’s Libishomem-fearing Kaure. (Well, that’s because I typed in "tacuna" instead of "ticuna.")
A Brazilian friend with better typing skills found the Ticunas: there are 40,000 of them, half of that number in the Brazilian Amazon. The other half is found in Peru and Colombia. Their tonal language is supposed to be unrelated to any other existing language in the world. Sadly, no word on their Libishomem tales.
Follow-up post: Stephenie Meyer’s THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, Artistic License, and the “Libishomem”
Photos: Kimberley French / Summit Entertainment
I think a writer has an obligation to make a research about a country or whatever she is writing that exists…
Brasil is a real country.
I feel sad when a see a bunch of people here (in Brasil) that enjoy this book and its movies, when the writer uses stereotypes and other stuff that has pejorative meaning.
For example, they said in the book that the amazon coven is the least civilized vampires, that uses animal skin and doesn’t interact with humans at all… so the writer thinks that brazilian people are what?
does she thinks that we eat like animals, live in the forest and make drawing in our faces?
I never even saw an idian, and definetely there are no indians in Rio de Janeiro…
And Rio de Janeiro is not close to Amazônia.
Maybe in her next book she will write about how we don’t have dogs and cats, but monkeys, and that we love to sleep in the trees…
Thanks a lot for this post. At least someone was interested to search for the truth…
Indians in Rio? There are no Indians in Rio de Janeiro. This is ridiculous!
This debate got really serious. So much passion surrounding the Twilight Saga. Facinating after all this time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>There actually is no limit to “artistic license”. Hence, the words “artistic” and “license”.
Uh. Where’s the “unlimited” to be found in the words “artistic” and “license,” if I may ask?
Well, I guess you could write about a Russia where people say “arigato” when they want to thank someone for some kind deed.
You could place the French Revolution in Renaissance Italy (and make it an ethnic — not a socioeconomic — uprising).
You could even have a blonde, blue-eyed queen ruling the Belgian Congo — long before the Belgians arrived in Africa.
But unless you’re writing an absurdist comedy, I can tell you that neither you nor your work of fiction will be taken very seriously.
One essential characteristic of a truly great fantasy/sci-fi writer is the ability to create characters, situations, places grounded in reality. A lot of research is involved in that.
Even when dealing with fantastical characters, there’s a limit to artistic license.
Imagine if in “Twilight,” the vampires were whiskey or honey or orange juice — not blood — drinkers. Want to bet that that choice wouldn’t have worked?
We all *know* vampires drink blood. That’s the essence of being a vampire.
Artistic license is essential for storytelling, but only as long as it’s kept within certain parameters, e.g., the “vegetarian” vampires in the “Twilight” books.
Else, plot and characters become absurd — at times downright dishonest — and not to be taken seriously, except by those ignorant about the facts in question. (And no, I’m not talking about vampires here.)
Having said all that, my “ludicrous” post was merely a slice of trivia. After all, the “libishomem” plays a very minor role in “Breaking Dawn.” My post **obviously** was meant to offer a bit of unusual information to those who might be interested in reading it. That’s all.
But of course, I’m fully aware that there are lots of people who find facts “ludicrous” — if they disagree with them.
Well, enough about this.
There actually is no limit to “artistic license”. Hence, the words “artistic” and “license”.
Some of your posts are quite good. This one is ludicrous. Why not just admit it now and cut your losses. Or are you unable?
It may be nice if Condon clarifies the lore with some edits. I would enjoy seeing it included in BDawn without confusion. It’s interesting as an element of the honeymoon when she confronts Edward accusing him, adding tension and prophecy to the pregnancy outcome exclaiming, “morte.” It’s great how one cleaning person can shift the story from sexy flying feathers, torn lingerie and snorkeling in paradise to mortal danger. I like the character and wants to see a coherent scene with it.
Becky,
Whoever said that in Brazil “lobishomem” (actually “lobisomem”) is a vampire probably got it from Stephenie Meyer’s novel. Or perhaps Meyer got it from that site…
“Lobisomem,” in Brazil or Portugal, means “werewolf.”
From that same site:
“Jaracaca- Vampire that feeds from breast milk (Brazil).” I asked three Brazilian friends who said they’d never heard of a vampire named “Jaracaca.” However, there’s a snake called “Jararaca.” It’s found in parts of Brazil.
This “jaracaca” vampire tale seems as made up as the “libishomem.” (I found a couple of books online about the “jaracaca” vamp – laughable stuff.)
Now, of course Meyer has the right to write whatever she wishes.
She could’ve written in “Breaking Dawn” that Chicago Aztecs believe in the Grozzlebear, a mean vampire.
It’s her fiction. She can come up with any legends or “facts” that comes to her head.
But a lot of people who know better would find that rather silly, wouldn’t you say?
There *is* a limit to artistic license. It all depends on how well informed those reading your book are.
I saw your other post, and then did some research of my own. You are correct that the lobishomen in Portugal is known as a werewolf. But at this site http://www.angelfire.com/tn/vampires/step8.html
it states “Lobishomen- Vampire that attacks women and turns them into nymphomaniacs. (Brazil) Also known as werewolves. (Portugal)*”
So since the couple was Brazilian, it could be considered correct. No matter if it is a myth or not. Others are correct in that it is a written piece of fiction and along with other fictional books, can have its own legends and “facts”.
>>>>>>>>>>Just thought I would point out the obvious in regards to the points made in this article as to how inaccurate the facts are…. Everyone does realize that Breaking Dawn is a piece of fiction, right? Since when does a piece of fiction have to be factually accurate? It’s too bad that there is so much picking apart of novels in this way.
I’m not making any “points” in the piece. I (naively?) thought that people who read the book might find this bit of trivia curious, or funny, or entertaining. That was it.
As for a piece of fiction having to be factually accurate — well, actually factual accuracy, though not exactly crucial, does indeed help. Oftentimes, very much so.
Please check out this follow-up article:
http://www.altfg.com/blog/movie/stephenie-meyer-breaking-dawn-artistic-license/
Just thought I would point out the obvious in regards to the points made in this article as to how inaccurate the facts are…. Everyone does realize that Breaking Dawn is a piece of fiction, right? Since when does a piece of fiction have to be factually accurate? It’s too bad that there is so much picking apart of novels in this way. Those who love the stories read them over & over again. Those who don’t can simply choose to read something else.
Point well taken; The only explantaion is that this is fiction! The author is entiled to write whatever she chooses.