Midterm study

Question 1

According to Brazilian Anthropologist Roberto da Matta, what are the main characteristics of Brazilian culture?

Answer 1

‘different but united’

Question 2

What does Da Matta mean by the phrase “Do you know who you are talking to”?

Answer 2

hierarchical ranks, authoritarian figures
–>Hiding notion that everyone knows their place
–>Division of society that sets Brazilians apart from malandro (rogue)

Question 3

Why does he consider Carnival to be an ideal phenomenon to understand Brazilian culture and society?

Question 4

What images do you think of to describe Brazilian culture and society?
What does it mean to be Brazilian?
Is Brazil an earthly paradise, or a land of contradictions, or a
country of the future?

Question 5

What is Brazil’s current population size?

Answer 5

215 mil

Question 6

What is Brazil’s current GDP?

Answer 6

10,000

Question 7

What is the capital of Brazil?

Answer 7

Brasilía

Question 8

What is the official language of Brazil?

Answer 8

Portuguese

Question 9

Who colonized different parts of Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries

Answer 9

Portugal, France,Holland

Question 10

Who was the president of Brazil from 2003-2010?

Answer 10

Lula da Silva

Question 11

What Brazilian music genre was celebrated by jazz musicians in the U.S. during the ’50s and ’60s?

Answer 11

Bossa nova

Question 12

What religions are practiced in Brazil?

Answer 12

Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Camdomblé,Umbanda

Question 13

How does João Roberto Martins Filho guide us to understand what it means to be Brazilian?

Question 14

According to Anthony W. Pereira, how does the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games, held in Rio de Janeiro, illustrate main aspects of Brazilian culture and challenges facing the country?

Question 15

abolitionism

Question 16

Rio Branco Law of the Free Womb

Question 17

Saraiva-Cotegipe Law (slaves at 60)

Question 18

Lei Áurea

Question 19

quilombo communities

Question 20

According to Ilka Boaventura Leite, what are the meanings of “quilombos” today?

Answer 20

Trans-historical – memories of African-descendants of colonial exploitation and the African diasporas
 Juridical-formal – right to a territory based on ethnic identity and culture, related to affirmative action policies
 Post-utopian – deconstruction of color and race, quilombola territory and identity as a human right

Question 21

How should the “quilombola” communities be conceptualized?

Question 22

Does the historical process of slavery matter? Does ‘race’ matter?

Question 23

What are the factors that count for identifying quilombola
communities?

Question 24

What are the tensions and conflicts facing the quilombola communities?

Question 25

The republic in Brazil

Question 26

miscegenation

Question 27

The Vargas era (1930-1945, 1951-1954)

Question 28

Modern Art Week (1922)

Question 29

What is the “racial democracy” thesis? Is it a myth or a reality?

Answer 29

idea that Brazil is in a racial utopia where society is multiracial and can coexist together. Freyre’s concept of racial democracy argues that Brazil has a multiracial society

Question 30

How does Gilberto Freyre characterize Brazilian culture and society? What is his main argument about race and race relations in Brazil?

Answer 30

Focuses on sociability and horizontal social relations  Positive view on miscegenation in Northeast Brazil

Question 31

Luso-Tropical Civilization

Question 32

What is the “Whitening ideal” How does it challenge the “racial democracy” thesis?

Answer 32

the "whitening ideal" is a desire to be white. It emphasizes that “Brazilians generally regarded whiter as better”, which led to the ingrained concept of “whitening” (Skidmore 1994: 94). It challenges the "racial democracy" thesis

Question 33

What does Thomas Skidmore mean by the “whitening ideal”?

Answer 33

According to Skidmore, this whitening ideal thesis is based on two assumptions: 1) that the Black population was decreasing, 2) that miscegenation was naturally producing a lighter population

Question 34

How does Skidmore’s approach to race relations challenge Freyre’s argument on race in Brazil?

Question 35

What does Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda mean by “cordiality” as a main characteristic of Brazilian culture?

Answer 35

strategy for resolving conflicts through private means.

Question 36

What is the difference between ”cordiality” and ”friendliness”?

Answer 36

cordiality is being civil and having common courtesy/neutrality; friendliness is more intimate and warm

Question 37

Does Hollanda consider that race matters for the construction of the national culture?

Answer 37

No, Hollanda considers that social class matters for national culture ocnstruction

Question 38

How does Hollanda’s description of the national character of “cordiality” compare with Da Matta’s analysis of “Do You Know Who You Are Talking To”?

Question 39

the role of music & resistance

Question 40

Protest music

Question 41

Tropicália

Answer 41

aggressive approach to cultural production that attempts to resist political & cultural hegemonies of the right and left -->Emphasis on individual responses

Question 42

MPB

Question 43

Black Soul