Brazilian Literature

[JCamilo]

Seriously? The only negative thing there was the general saying "Search for a white man" , which make us wonder if he thinks brazil is in africa.
Other than that,
Rocinha is paceful, they consider in the same movie New York a more tense place. The fabric is a typical low level fabric, it was not abotu Brazil (since it was only merchandasing).
Look, they use missiles in a University Campus in the USA. The Army if that movie is clearly a comic book army, they do everything wrong, not related to us (brazilians). And anyone can enter in a "favela", it is a public area. It is the ilegal traffic bosses who keep you away and really, the american army is considerable more nice than what we showed in Tropa de Elite.

[Brasil]

What about the U.S army invading the Brazilian territory?
If it was real, the Brazilian army could attack them, cause it is invasion of territory. In the real life, less than this could start a war!

Ufortunatelly, people around the world maybe do not undestand the movie as the same way you undestood. So, they will judge Brazilian factories as dirty.
Furthermore, that factory in Hulk movie (in real life) is in Toronto, Canada (not Brazil). I've just watched now a documentary and interview with the director. The scenes in New York streets are in truth Toronto too.
But peolple in world that didn't see the documentary and don't know much about Brazil will think all factories here are dirty like that in movie.
Very serious: in the movie, a North-american man drink a Brazilian juice and fall (maybe sick, maybe dead). The movie can make damages in Brazilian international business. We export juice with quality, but the movie's message is "Brazilian juice is produced under no control". The movie lies. It is insane!

But I agree with you in one point: they said "search for a white man" and that was terrible!

White North-americans usually think they are the only caucasians. But in truth, an Arabian, an Iranian, a Spanish, an Italian, a Portuguese... are caucasians too. Not just english, russian and german people are caucasians.
In resume, all people from Europe and their descendants and all people from Middle East and their descendants could be considerated caucasians.

The North-americans use the term in a wrong interpretation because of their prejudice.
But it does not make me upset. What is the good of being a white person? And what is the bad of being black, yellow or red? It does not make difference!
All human people have the same origin. The colour of skin does not matter!

It does not even deserves comentaries, cause their way of classification came from the XIX century. It is totally overtaken. And I think you agree with me in this point.
Nowadays, scientists discovered there is only one race: human race.

[JCamilo]

What about the U.S army invading the Brazilian territory?
If it was real, the Brazilian army could attack them, cause it is invasion of territory. In the real life, less than this could start a war!

Unless there was autorization from the brazilian governament, but do you notice the US Army is the villain in the movie? They do several wrong things in the movie, even from the point of view of North Americans. They put in risk civilians all the time, they are lame (I mean, Banner is a lonely guy who is barelly dressed and yet manages to cross fronteirs from one side to another all the time, to enter in contact with everyone and everybody and they only get a clue with gamma poisoining?) Trully, they are so comic book that first part make me think of Incrivel monstro Trapalhão.

Ufortunatelly, people around the world maybe do not undestand the movie as the same way you undestood. So, they will judge Brazilian factories as dirty.
Furthermore, that factory in Hulk movie (in real life) is in Toronto, Canada. I've just watched now a documentary and interview with the director, thats how I know that. The scenes in New York streets are in truth Toronto too. But peolple in world that don't know that detail and don't know much about Brazil will think all factories here are dirty like that in movie.

And they will think that all US Generals are corrupt, insane and bomb their universities like the one in the movie? Fact is the writers of those new marvel character are very anti-governament.

Very seriously: in the movie, a North-american man drink a Brazilian juice and fall (maybe sick, maybe dead). The movie can make damages at Brazilian international business. We export juice with quality, but the movie's message is "Brazilian juice is produced under no control". The movie lies.

The message is "US ARMY produces monsters and care little for the life or civilians".

But I agree with you in one point: they said "search for a white man" and that was terrible!

White North-americans usually think they are the only caucasians. But in truth, an Arabian, an Iranian, a Spanish, an Italian, a Portuguese... are caucasians too. Not just english, russian and german people are caucasians.
In resume, all people from Europe and their descendants and all people from Middle East and their descendants could be considerated caucasians.

The North-americans use the term in a wrong interpretation because of their prejudice.
But it does not make me upset. What is the good of being a white person? And what is the bad of being black, yellow or red? It does not make difference!
All human people have the same origin. The colour of skin does not matter!

It does not even deserves comentaries, cause their way of classification came from the XIX century. It is totally overtaken. And I think you agree with me in this point.
Nowadays, scientists discovered there is only one race: human race.

It is not about race, but dumbness. I mean, they could have arrested Luana Piovani with that description.

[Brasil]

Very good!
But only if Luana Piovani was man.
"Search for a white man", he said, remember?

But what Luana Piovani would be doing in a favela? Recording a comercial, posing for pictures?

About the movie:
This time I hope you are right and I hope people don't see Brazil as it is shown in that movie.
I agree with you "the US Army is the villain in the movie". But I still worry. Usually, people don't see like that. I saw several sites in internet saying Michael Moore's Fahrenreit 9/11 is false and he is hipocrit. Still a great number (40%) of Americans support war in Iraq and belive it is for the good of Iraquian people. They usually belive in their governement and in their army without questions. They judge the documentary false. But when a comic movie says "In Brazil people live in trees with monkeys... what ever..." they belive. I've already heard commentaries like that.

You know, the Brazilian stereotype of rainforest and favelas exist.
Brazil is not just a jungle, but exist people that really think that. There are Americans that ask we if monkeys enter into our homes. That is very sad.

And Brazil is not just favelas. In truth, less than 7% of São Paulo is favela.
Sure, we have problems, but all the world has. And we have good things too! Unfortunately, the beauties of Brazilian culture are almost unknown for the majority of population.

[JCamilo]

She is 1,80 meters, they could think she was a man (plus, they are clueless, they could arrest Luana Piovani). And she would be buying drugs of course. Or maybe just lost because she is as dumb as pretty.

Just this month, in italy there was a publication saying Brazil is the future country of the world. Plus, the majority of Victoria Secrets Models are Brazilians (I mean, how dumb was that "white man", the most famous brazilian in the world is Giselle Bunchen and the other, Paulo Coelho, is hardly not white.They could have said "kick a ball to him, if he is clumsy he is not brazilian - and , for god sakes, they had pictures of him. It should have "search for THIS guy")
That was hardly a negative vision - The brazilians in the favela do not react to the invasion, there is not firearms but americans, Banner manages to live there in peace... I would say those are the nicest favelas ever (not to mention how clean and interesting archyteture wise...)

[Scheherazade]

the most famous brazilian in the world is Giselle Bunchen

I beg to differ... We cannot disregard the Brazilian football team so easy - especially at the expence of a model.

[Brasil]

Course, Villa-Lobos, Tom Jobim, Jorge Amado... are importants.
But, I think, Camilo refers to Gisele and Paulo Coelho as most current.

People who love erudit music, Bossa or Literature is very rare. But everybody know a little about Gisele and about the Football Team cause they are current in mass media.

I would like to propose the return to the matter on literature and general art topics.


Good day for all

[JCamilo]

Yes, Giselle as living person. Only Pele would do soemthing different, and I doubt she would be less famous even to Villa-Lobos or Jorge Amado. But Fame is not the same as importance and I think it is a very suited merit for a model.

As the footbal team, of course, Football is almost synounimous with Brazil, but just look that picture, Kaka and Ronaldinho Gaucho, the two most famous players of that picture are not as famous as Bunchen. Heck, they are less famous than Beckham

[Brasil]

Capoeira was born as martial art at the colonial times, but nowadays it is also a dance and a game.
Capoeira was born especialy in Salvador-Bahia, but also in Rio de Janeiro-RJ and Recife-PE (not at the rain forest as most foreign think).


(that is the real map of Brazil, some maps in English are wrong)

Some Capoeira songs are full of religious references (Catholic and Umbanda).
Most of Brazilians are Catholics, however Umbanda is the real Brazilian religion, cause it was born here.
Umbanda is a kind of Catholicism mixed with African spiritism (Candomblé) and influences from native indians beliefs.
The Oxirás are the gods of Candomblé, and they are also in Umbanda. Each person has his own Orixá.

To see the Pantheon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orisha


Now, I'll post a Capoeira song's lyric as example of folklore:

Eu não sou daqui
(Marinheiro só) ----> the chorus reply each verse with "echo"
Eu não tenho amor
(Marinheiro só)
Eu sou da Bahia
(Marinheiro só)
De São Salvador
(Marinheiro só)
O marinheiro, marinheiro
(Marinheiro só)
Quem te ensinou a nadar
(Marinheiro só)
Ou foi o tombo do navio
(Marinheiro só)
Ou foi o balanço do mar

Translation:
I'm not from here
(Lonely sailor)
I have no love
(Lonely sailor)
I am from Bahia
(Lonely sailor)
From San Salvador
(Lonely sailor)
Oh sailor, sailor
(Lonely sailor)
Who taught you to swim
(Lonely sailor)
Or it was the fall of the ship
(Lonely sailor)
Or it was the balance of the sea

Obs: the sailor is also a reference to Umbanda beliefs.

[Brasil]

An anthology of short stories by Machado de Assis will be published in Britain in 2008.

Publisher: Bloomsburry.
Translation: Professor John Gledson, from the University of Liverpool.

[Camilo Viveiros]

Machado de Assis - Antero de Quental

I was wondering if there is evidence of the influence or awareness of Machado de Assis (1839-1908) of the work of Antero de Quental (1842-1891) and visa versa? Both writers popularized Realism. Although their national and ethnic origins as well as their political aspirations differed, eventually both expressed types of social pessimism. Quental became nihilistic and self-destructive while Machado de Assis articulated skepticism about the caliber of human morality.



For ten years from 1881-1891, following Machado de Assis’ period of writing Romantic poetry from 1856-1880, they both were important Realist literately figures, although on different continents. I looked for information about their awareness and thoughts on each other’s work but I have not found anything. Does anyone know what they thought of each other’s work and if they had any contact between 1881-1891?


Thank you for your assistance.

Camilo Viveiros

[JCamilo]

It would be very odd if Machado was unaware of him, and while Machado main influence aare the french realists, I would search in the recent publications about Machado due the 100 years and his colection of letters. Are you in Brazil?

[Brasil]

Facts:

- The Brazilian book publishing market is bigger than that Italian, with more than 50 thousand new titles each year.

- The National Library of Rio de Janeiro, since 1910 located in the Avenida Rio Branco, is the eighth largest national library in the world, has a collection of 8 million pieces.


About the literature in portuguese language:

- The North American critic Harold Bloom in his book, Genius:A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds José Saramago (Portuguese writer, Nobel laureate, author of Blindness) is considered "the most gifted novelist alive in our times".

- The American critic Harold Bloom considers Machado de Assis (Brazilian novelist, founder of the Brazilian Academy of Letters) one of the 100 biggest geniuses of literature of all time (up to the point of considering it the best black writer of western literature).


Personal oppinion:

But for me, does not have that skin color thing. Harold Bloom is a little ethnocentric. Machado is the best novelist of XIX century.



And in my personal oppinion, Luis de Camões is the greatest poet of all time!

[Brasil]

Description: Porto Seguro, Island of Vera Cruz, Brazil, 1 May 1500 – Letter from Pêro Vaz de Caminha to the King of Portugal, Manuel I. This is the first document describing the land and people of what became Brazil. It was written at the very moment of first contact with this new world. Pêro Vaz de Caminha was an official who had been commissioned to report on the voyage of the India-bound fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral. The Letter is a unique document because of the facts it narrates, the quality of its description of the people and territory and its account of cultural dialogue with a people unknown in Europe up to that time. It is rich in detail and shrewd observations that make us feel we are eyewitnesses of the encounter. Pêro Vaz de Caminha started his Letter on 24 April and finished it on 1 May, the date when one of the vessels of the fleet sailed for Lisbon to announce the good news to the King.



When you read the Letter, it seems you are there, at that time, looking the indians with surprise. Fantastic!
I'm trying to find a English translation of the letter, cause it is really amazing. Untill there, this is the Modern Portuguese version:
http://www.cce.ufsc.br/~nupill/literatura/carta.html

[weltanschauung]

ainda nao acredito que paulo coelho e jorge amado estao nesta lista. que horror. machado de assis devia estar isolado em primeiro lugar e voce nem ao menos colocou manuel bandeira na lista! nem a chata da clarisse lispector.