Brazil in the Making: Facets of National Identity (Latin American Silhouettes) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742537579 ISBN 13: 9780742537576

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006

Synopsis

This innovative volume traces Brazil's singular character, exploring both the remarkable richness and cohesion of the national culture and the contradictions and tensions that have developed over time. What shared experiences give its citizens their sense of being Brazilian? What memories bind them together? What metaphors and stereotypes of identity have emerged? Which groups are privileged over others in idealized representations of the nation?

The contributors—a multidisciplinary group of U.S. and Brazilian scholars—offer a fresh look at questions that have been asked since the early nineteenth century and that continue to drive nationalist discourse today. Their chapters explore Brazilian identity through an innovative framework that brings in seldom-considered aspects of art, music, and visual images, offering a compelling analysis of how nationalism functions as a social, political, and cultural construction in Latin America.

Contributions by: Cristina Antunes, Dain Borges, Valéria Costa e Silva, James Green, Efrain Kristal, Ludwig Lauerhass Jr., Cristina Magaldi, Elizabeth A. Marchant, José Mindlin, Carmen Nava, José Luis Passos, Robert Stam, and Valéria Torres

About this title

About the Author:

Carmen Nava is associate professor of history at California State University, San Marcos. Ludwig Lauerhass Jr. is lecturer emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Review:

An important contribution to understanding Brazilian national identity. Nava and Lauerhass have put together an impressive collection of experts to explore the wide-ranging features of text, sights, facts, and sounds, which together make Brazilians unique. Anyone interested in Brazil should read this book. (Edward Telles, University of California, Santa Barbara)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0742537579
• ISBN 13: 9780742537576
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248
• Editor: Nava California State University San Marcos Carmen, Lauerhass Ludwig