Brazilian Culture And Society

The Portuguese populated Brazil in 16th century introduce African slaves to the nation. Further European, Asian, Middle Eastern group have departured established in this country. The native Guarani and Tupi citizens are also included in the people as well. In the present day Brazil has a relatively different background & ethnicity too. As seen the language used by Brazilians quite varies.

Brazilian Language

Brazil Culture & Society:

Brazilian Multiplicity: Brazil is a blend of race & ethnicities, resultant in prosperous multiplicity. Numerous unique Portuguese settlers wedded local women, which formed a original race, call ‘mestizos’ who be descendents of the Portuguese & African slaves. Slavery was abolished in 1888, created over instance an additional blur of cultural outline. Brazilian had intermarried to the tip that it at times seem too approximately everybody has a blend of African, European & resident parentage.

Brazilians’ Family unit ethics: The family is base of societal construction & form the foundation of constancy for most citizens. Family tends to be big and the wide-range family is relatively close. The individual derive a social network & support in era of necessitate from the family. Discrimination is considered as an optimistic thing while it implies that by employing individual one knows & trust is of prime importance.

The Brazilians’ Class System: In spite of mixing of ethnicities here is a class system in Brazil. The minority Brazilians’ possibly will describe as racially prejudiced even though community unfairness on the base of outer covering color is every day happening. On the whole group of darker brown skin people are economically and socially underprivileged. The Middle as well as Upper class groups frequently has only make short contact with the Lower class groups i.e. typically drivers, maids etc. Lower Class is resolute by economic status as well as skin color. There is an immense differentiation in earnings differential & so the lifestyle & social aspiration amongst the different classes. Even though women being 40% of the Brazilians’ workforce they are only found in lower salaried job i.e. Teaching, Nursing & Administrative support. In 1988 establishment prohibit preferential treatment not in the favor of women’s but inequality still continue living. The one place where women have achieved equality is in government.

Etiquettes and Customs in Brazil

Meeting Etiquette: Men shake hands while greeting one another and maintain stable eye contact. Women in general kiss each other & initiate with the left and irregular cheeks. Hug & Backslapping are ordinary greetings among Brazilians’ friends. And in case if a woman desires to shake hands with a man then she needs to extend her hand initially.

Gift Giving Etiquettes: If invited at Brazilians’ residence, get the hostess flowers or can even get a small gift. Orchids are considered to be one of the best gifts but always avoid the purple ones. Keep away from giving anything that is black or purple as these are sorrow colors. Even handkerchiefs are associated with funeral & so it does not make good gift.

Dining Etiquette: whenever you are invited to a Brazilians’ residence arrive at least 30 minutes before the given time for dinner & where in there is a party or gathering arrive atleast 1hr late. They dress-up with a style & judge others on their looks. Always dress sophisticatedly and go wrong on the side of over-dressing instead for under- dressing. If you don’t get a gift to the hostess then too next day flowers are always appreciated.

Business Etiquettes and Protocol in Brazil

Communication & Relationships: Brazilians’ need to understand as in how they are doing business with before they work successfully. Brazilians’ are in favor of personal meetings to written communication as it helps them to understand the individual with whom they do business. The personality they deal with is more significant than the company.

As this is a group culture so it is important that you do nothing to disgrace a Brazilian. Criticizing an individual personality makes the person to lose face with in front of others in meeting. The one who makes the criticism also loses face as someone has disrespected the unwritten rule. Communication is at times informal & does not depend on strict rules of protocol. Anybody who feels that he/she has something to say will normally add their view. It is considered good enough to disturb someone who is doing verbal communication. Here head to head & verbal communication is favored over the on paper communication. But at the similar time when it comes to business agreement Brazilians’ claim on drawing up detailed legal contracts.

Business Negotiation: Brazilians’ are more satisfied doing business with the people & company they already know. Wait for your Brazilian colleagues to move up the business matter. Never rush the relationship- building occasion. Brazilians take time when there is a chance of negotiation. Do not rush them or seem to be annoyed. Expect an immense deal of time to be exhausted review information. It often happens that the people with whom you negotiate with will not have supervisory authority. It is always sensible to appoint a translator if you’re Portuguese is not smooth. Use local lawyer & accountant for discussions. Brazilians’ resent an external legal presence. Brazilians’ business is hierarchical. Decisions are always made by the highest-ranking individual. Brazilians’ discuss with people not with company. Never change the negotiation team you have choose before or you will have to start it all again from the beginning.

Business Meeting Etiquettes: Business activities are essential & can frequently be listed on short notice however it is considered best to make them in advance by two to three weeks. Authenticate the meeting in written. It is not unusual for the appointments to get cancelled or altered at the end moment.

In Brasilia & Sao Paulo it is very essential to arrive on time for meetings. Where as in Rio de Janeiro & other cities it is appropriate if u arrive a bit late in meeting. Do not seem to be irritated if you are kept waiting. Brazilians’ perceive time as something outside their control & demands of relationships takes priority over adhere to a strict schedule.

Meetings are in general rather informal. Expect to be interrupted whereas you are talking or making a presentation & even avoid confrontation. Never appear to be frustrated in front of your Brazilian colleagues.

Dress Etiquettes: Brazilians’ feel pride on themselves by dressing well. Men should always wear conventional, dark colored business suit. As the three-piece suit typically indicate that someone is a director.

Women should always wear suits or dresses which look elegant & feminine with fine quality of accessories. Manicures are always expected.

Business Cards: Business cards are always exchanged during introduction with each one at a meeting. It is sensible to have the additional business card which is being translated into Portuguese. Present the business card with the Portuguese side facing the beneficiary.

Social issues in Brazil

Poverty: Poverty in Brazil is on the whole visually represented by various faceless, slums in the countries’ urban areas & remote upcountry region that undergo through economic underdevelopment & below similar standard of living. An attempt to lessen these problems is the “Fome Zero” hunger-eradication program [2]implemented by the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the year 2003. Part of this is ‘Bolsa Família’ a most important anti-poverty program which provides money directly to the impoverished families to keep their kids in schools. The Government of Lula’s compact the poverty rate by 19.8% based on labour income during the year June 2002 & June 2006 according to Fundação Getúlio Vargas. In the year June 2006, 18.57% was rate of depression of inhabitants. The rate of poverty is in division credited to the countries’ economic differences. In the Gini coefficient index Brazil ranks 49.3% with the richest 10% of Brazilians’ receiving 42.7% of the nation’s earnings while the poorest 10% obtain less than 1.2% only. In the Gini coefficient index of inequality assessment Brazil ranks world’s highest. A study on the subject show that the poor part constitute approximately one third of the population & the extremely poor make out about 13% 2005 figures. However the same study shows the income growth of the poorest 20% inhabitants segment to be almost in equality with China where as the richest 10% are stagnate.

Reduction: Brazil might achieve social indicator similar to that of developed nations by 2016 if the country is capable enough to maintain the similar rate of reduction of intense poverty & income disparity as recorded in the year 2003 to 2008. By the similar token the country may record an absolute shortage rate of 4%. The information was taken from a file issued by The Institute of Applied Economic Research linked to Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic. Public is considered exceptionally poor who earn up to 25% of one minimum wage for each month whereas the utterly poor earn up to 50% of one minimum wage for each month. If we make a projection of the finest performance lately recorded in Brazil in terms of poverty & inequality reduction 2003-2008 period to the year of 2016 the result would be a very optimistic social viewpoint. Brazil may practically overcome the problem of intense poverty as well as accomplish a national total poverty rate of only 4% which means its near-eradication,” the article states.

The mass of the advancement achieve by Brazil in fighting poverty & inequality is moreover directly or indirectly connected to the structuring of public policies of social intervention provided for in the federal constitution of 1988. The Ipea even points out three additional important factors to combating poverty & inequality they are:

Increase in social expenditure in the country which went from 19% of the Gross Domestic Product in 1990 to 21.9% of the GDP in 2005.

Delegation of social policy with an inclusive role played by municipalities in the implementation of social policies as their contribution of social expenses rose 53.8% from the year 1980 to 2008.

Social participation in the formatting & management of social policies.

According to the institution the institutional consolidation of the framework of social laws in Brazil would be a significant step towards maintaining in coming years the brawl against scarcity & disparity in the country.

It is essential that a new law be passed regulating social responsibility & assure with funds, goals, coordination & timetable .So that Brazil may attain social indicator alike to those presently seen in urban country. All of that must obviously obtain place with no backlash in conditions of contribution of society in the monitoring, formatting & control of public policies.

The Brazil Federal Government has also implemented & expanded major subsidy programs in last few years such as Fome zero & bolsa familia. It is for families deemed to be in the need of help & support.

Brazil has severe trouble with offence. It is roughly 23.8 homicides for each 1,00,000 inhabitants, muggings, robbery, kidnapping & gang aggression are very common. Police brutality & corruption are common. In response to all this the Brazilian Government established “The National Public Security” in June 2004 by the ministry of justice to do something in situation of urgent situation in times of disaster.

CULTURAL ASPECT

Heritage:

In Brazil the “National Institute for Historic and Artistic Heritage”1 keeps documentation of buildings certified as historic urban centers, structures & condominiums, archaeological sites, over one million stuff including a cinematographic, a thousand bibliographic volumes, musicological collection, archival documentation, video graphic records & photographic & in addition to that the Worldwide Heritage.

The Iphan classify the Cultural Heritage of Brazil into two groups:

Intangible Heritage: It is the one whose representation, information, practices, expressions & techniques, items, artifacts, instruments & sites are acknowledged by the community as an essential part of their cultural heritage. It is agreed on from age group to age group & it is continuously recreated by community based on their surroundings i.e. communication with nature & history. This procedure generates a feeling of individuality & continuity. The Brazilian catalogue of intangible assets includes the Samba Centers in Rio de Janeiro ,the feasts Círio de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, Frevo (Dance), Feira de Caruaru, the handicraft form of preparing the Minas Cheese ,Capoeira (Martial Art).

Tangible Heritage: It comprises of the combination of cultural assets classified in accordance to their nature in the four Books of Certified Historic structure:-

Applied arts and archaeology

Historic

Landscape and ethnography.

Fine arts.

The material assets comprises of the Architectural combination of historic cities:-

Ouro Preto (MG)

Paraty (RJ)

Olinda (PE)

Grutas do Lago Azul and Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Bonito – MS)

The Corcovado (Rio de Janeiro – RJ)

São Luís (MA)

landscapes such as Lençóis (BA)

Serra do Curral (Belo Horizonte – MG).

Literature

Brazils’ poetry, drama & fiction account for about partially the literary output of Latin America planned by the amount of title of individual books. Bookish advancement in Brazil approximately follows the countries’ most important chronological period characterize frequently by writing in the Baroque & Arcadian styles & The National Period since 1822. Many prominent writers of the Colonial Period were Jesuits who got fascinated by the new land & its native inhabitants.

Writers

Year

Creation

Gregório de Matos

1623 to1696

Poetry layered on lyricism and mysticism

José de Alencar

1829 to 1877

Iracema about Indians, O Guarani, a historical novel, and novels on regional, social, and urgan affairs

Castro Alves

1847 to 1871

Wrote about African slaves

Gonçalves Dias

1823 to 1864

Who wrote about Indians

Tomás Antônio Gonzaga

1744 to 1810

Lyric and epic poems

Raimundo Correa

1860 to 1911

Parnassian triad

Manuel Antônio de Almeida

1831 to 1861

Initiating picaresque literature in Brazil

Joaquim Manuel de Macedo

1820 to 1882

A Moreninha, a popular story

Alfredo d’Escragnolle Taunay

1843 to 1899

Inocência

Olavo Billac

1865 to 1918

Parnassian triad

The prose of Euclides da Cunha 1866-1908 was committed to be a Brazilian literature portrays social realities.

Machado de Assis 1839-1908 widely acclaim as the greatest Brazilian novelist of 19th century. Machado de Assis was unique because of the universality of his novel & essays & is considered one of the most vital & influential writers of fiction in Brazil.

In the beginning of the 20th century innovative state of mind imbued Brazilian artists culminating in the celebration in São Paulo of The 1922 Week of Modern Art held. These new way thoughts propelled an artistic revolution that appealed to the feelings of pride for national ancestry, folklore & history.

The leader of the literary phase was Mário de Andrade from 1893-1945 who wrote Brazilian folklore, poems, fine art, essay on literature, melody & Macunaíma which he named ‘ rhapsody’ & not a novel.

The writer Oswald de Andrade from 1890-1953 wrote a collection of poetries entitled Pau-Brazil which assess Brazil culture, superstition, & first time in Brazilian poems with hilarity.

Jorge Amado first novelist who translated into 33 languages & were heavily prejudiced by his belief in Marxist thoughts & concentrated on the suffering of workforce on the cocoa plantation which had received worldwide approval.

There are few other significant Brazilian writers. They are as follows:

Gilberto Freyre from the year 1900 to1987 is author of Casa Grande Senzala i.e. The Masters and The Slaves. It is a perceptive learning of Brazilian society.

João Cabral de Melo Neto the best known Brazilian poets. His poems are sober ,he also uses terms with the precision in building material.

Vinicius de Moraes known worldwide from the year 1913to1980. His poems became part & parcel of the bossa nova musical movement which is produced to be a new style of samba the classically Brazilian beat. And also wrote play i.e. Orfeu da Canceicao, it became internationally famous as film Black Orpheus.

List of Poet & Novelist who are Living or Recently Deceased:

Living or recently deceased novelist

Living or recently deceased poet

Orígenes Lessa

Raul Bopp

Adonias Filho

Murilo Mendes

Érico Veríssimo

Augusto Frederico

Dinah Silveira de Queiroz

Schmidt

Lygia Fagundes Telles

Mário Quintana

Herberto Sales

Cassiano Ricardo

Rubem Fonseca

Jorge de Lima

Clarice Lispector

Ferreira Gullar

Dalton Trevisan

Cecília Meireles

Nélida Piñon

Augusto de Campos

Osman Lins

Haroldo de C

Paulo Coelho

Moacir Scliar

Music

Brazil’s origins the Indians with red flutes & Portuguese with singers & viola players, and the Africans with their many thrilling rhythms – make it a musical country. From the classical compositions of Villa-Lobos, to the soft sounds of bossa nova to the driving beat of samba, Brazil has developed music of striking sophistication, quality, and diversity.

The Jesuits made use of the music to catechize the Indians by replacing the original words with religious ones using the Tupi language. They also introduced the Gregorian chant and taught the flute, bow instruments, and the clavichord. Music accompanied the sacramental ceremonies which were performed in village and church plazas.

Dance called Lundu used by Negro slaves is considered to be one of the most importan. It was one of the popular musical forms & it was even sung in the Portuguese C musicourt. In the second half of the l8th century & during the 19th century the sentimental love song called the modinha was popular & it was sung both in Brazil’s salons.

By the end of the century, Carlos Gomes from the year 1836 to 1896 produced a number of operas in the existing Italian fashion especially Il Guarany an opera ease on a well-known Brazilian novel by José de Alencar.

The first Brazilian composer Brasílio Itiberê from the year 1848 to 1913 was to use a well-liked national motif in erudite music. In the year 1869 he composed ‘A Sertaneja’ which was played by Franz Liszt & has remained active in the piano repertoire.

Brazils’ popular music developed similar to the classical music & it also united traditional European instruments guitar, piano & flute with a whole rhythm part of sound produced by frying pan, tiny barrels with a membrane & a stick inside that make wheezing sounds & tambourines. In the period of 1930 popular Brazilian music played on radio became powerful means of mass communication. The best composers of the period 1903 to 2963 were:

Noel Rosa

Lamartine Babo

Ary Barroso

In the year 1968 during the period of autocracy, urban guerrillas & anxiety of about how to alter the political structure. The Tropicalists appear Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil & Gal Costa. Tropicalism is described as a combination of national rhythms along with international music. He has his own creations and they are Lyrical, intellectual with faster tempos & fuller rhythms’ than bossa nova.

Brazil’s popular & regional music includes the forró from northeast region where the accordion & the flute join guitars & percussion in a foot-stomping countryside dance. The frevo also from the northeast region which has a lively & simple style. the chorinho from Rio which combines various type & size of guitar, flutes, percussions & an occasional clarinet or saxophone in a tender form of instrumental music & international successful lambada.

Lambada dance got its name from Portuguese. Labana is a sensual & fast paced dance form; it is named out of a Portuguese verb which means to whip or flog which means smacking of the thigh alongside another thigh.

Samba is one of the most seductive and popular rhythm of Brazil. The exact origin of samba is still a mystery. It is still said that samba has originate in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and it also had the contribution from various other cultures such as Portuguese nation songs, African tunes, and one of the Indian fast footwork. It is believed that samba is just an African origin and that it is evolve from the batuque, it is a music based done by beating instruments and hand clapping.

Now a day’s Brazilian music had become popular & is exploring new rhythms’ & melodies. Its interpreters and composer use all possible sources to grab different kinds of music in the Brazilian songs so as to make Brazilian music more famous and popular to its world audience. Some of its famous performers are as under:

Maria Bethania.

Alcione

Roberto Carlos.

Cazuza, Ney Matogrosso

Rita Lee

Milton Nascimento

Hermeto Pascoal

Fafá de Belém

Chitãozinho and Chororó

Elba Ramalho

Alceu Valença

Luiz Gonzaga

Luiz Gonzaga Jr.

João Bosco

Djavan

Ivan Lins

Marisa Monte

Elis Regina.

brazilian music

ARTIST ARE PERFORMING A DANCE ON BRAZILLIAN MUSIC