Understanding Brazilian Culture: A Deep Dive into DaMatta’s Analysis
What Defines Brazil?
In his book, anthropologist Roberto DaMatta explores the essence of Brazilian daily life. He distinguishes between ‘Brazil’ (lowercase), which represents the personal, lived experience of being Brazilian, and ‘Brazil’ (uppercase), which refers to the country as a formal entity with culture, territory, and political structures. DaMatta argues that our identity is shaped by both aspects, and he uses social anthropology to understand this duality.
DaMatta defines culture as a specific style or way of doing things, encompassing customs, behaviors, habits, family, politics, and celebrations. He views Brazil as a coin with two sides: the personal ‘brazil’ and the political/economic ‘Brazil’.
Chapter 2: The House, the Street, and Work
This chapter examines the intimate relationships within the home, emphasizing that having a roof and walls is what truly matters. The transition from home to the street and work is significant, with the home representing comfort and ease. The house and street are not just geographic areas but also ways of understanding the world. Work is a routine, and DaMatta sees the home as a place of calm, while the street is a place of battle and danger, and work is a place of competition. These three ideas are interconnected and part of an individual’s life. The rules of the house are often broken in the street or at work, where the consequences are greater. However, these rules can be manipulated, such as during social gatherings with colleagues.
Work and festivities, like the homosexual parade during Carnival, are examples of this manipulation. DaMatta comments that the street rewards the home, and the home balances the street. In Brazil, they are like two sides of the same coin. What is lost on one side is gained on the other. What is denied at home, such as sex and work, is found on the street.
Chapter 3: The Illusion of Race Relations
DaMatta analyzes the mixture of races in Brazil, which some see as a problem for national identity. He seeks to understand the leadership position of the white West and the racist theory of mulatto degeneracy. Agassiz’s view is that mixing races is harmful. DaMatta compares racial relations in Brazil and the United States, noting that while Brazil does not have formal racial classifications, the U.S. has several divisions, such as separate schools and neighborhoods for black and white people. This allows for the intermediation of the mulatto in Brazil, while the U.S. has a racial triangle with each race in its place. Sergio Buarque argues that the mixture of races was a way to hide social injustices against blacks, Indians, and mulattos, and the idea of racial democracy was a myth.
Food and Men
DaMatta distinguishes between raw and cooked food. Cooked food allows for the relationship of things in the world that were separated, while raw food is the opposite of the home world. Food is what keeps a person alive, while food is valued and chosen. Terms like ‘De-eating’ are used in Brazil to order food. Food and drink are also present when people become animated, hoping to eat well. DaMatta states that food defines people: ‘Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are!’ Distinguishing between food and food is important to understand this chapter, with food associated with sexuality.
Chapter 5: Carnival as Theater and Pleasure
DaMatta explores how the world serves as a carnival or theater and pleasure. He states that the carnival is the largest, most important, free, creative, irreverent, and popular event in Brazil. It creates situations where many things are possible and others should be avoided. It is defined as freedom and an opportunity to live a utopian fantasy, free from poverty, work, obligations, duties, and sin. It is the theoretical distribution of sensual pleasure for everyone. During Carnival, people change their social positions.
The Celebration of Order
DaMatta compares the Carnival with other parties, noting that Carnival requires full engagement of body and soul, while other parties seem to dispense with memorized motivation. This leads to strict rules of bodily restraint in the rites of order.
Chapter 7: Brazilian Practices
DaMatta discusses practices peculiar to Brazilians, such as cunning and the ‘dispatcher’ (jeitinho). The ‘jeitinho’ is a peaceful and sometimes legitimate way to address problems, causing a junction of law with the person using it. This is part of the Brazilian way, a mix of cynicism and a taste for the rude and dishonest. The ‘dispatcher’ is only seen when we realize the difficulty of joining the law with daily social reality.
Final Chapter: Paths to Reach God
DaMatta focuses on religion as a way of ordering the world, providing understanding of complex things like time, eternity, loss, and disappearance. The church is a basic form of religion, marked by the impersonal side of our relationship with God. Intimacy can give way to fixed rules that lead to an impersonal cult, which legitimizes life crises.