“Nation of the future”. “Sex paradise”. “Wonderland of pickpockets”. “The emerging economy that grows in the rhythm of samba”.
Stop right there. There is more in Brazil than meets the eye.
Thank God, it is exotic, erotic and chaotic – to borrow an expression used by Dean Graber to describe how the international press sees the country. He is a brazilianist from Austin, Texas, that I met briefly years ago. But these beaten clichés are getting old. As a journalist I am well aware of the use of mental frames to make communication easier. To some extent, clichés help us understand the world. This doesn’t mean we should buy them without questioning.
Naturally, if you cannot read Portuguese, you have limited options to escape the beaten paths. That’s why I came up with the idea of launching the Deep Brazil blog. This will be a space to cover interesting aspects of Brazilian Visual Arts, Architecture, Media, Music, Cuisine, Fashion, Folklore – but not your average “culture for export”. I also intend to give a panorama of Politics, Economy, social issues and other themes that are often covered hastily by the foreign press. No hurt feelings, fellow journalists. I know it is hard to evade clichés when you have to write three stories a day. Plus, let’s face it. Brazil is not so easy to understand. Most of the time, I don’t get it, myself.
So, whoever is listening, welcome to Deep Brazil. Please, visit often, leave suggestions of new topics and spread the word.
I can’t wait to sit back and get the best low down on Brazil. Great idea to kick this off!
Thanks, Neal, for being the first one to comment on my post. Next will be about Coffin Joe – the king of cult horror movies.
Congratulations on the new project. I am already enthralled. I’m an ex-pat in Niterói who keeps a blog mostly for the purpose of avoiding the need to write 20 redundant emails a week to family and friends.
I keep it light by design. My rule is to avoid the more negative or challenging topics – don’t want set off the folks back home with limited info.
Check it out. http://qualidadedevida-jim.blogspot.com/ (Although I’m a bit embarrased that by coincidence today I have a Garota de Ipanema post!)
You asked for suggestions. I would ask that you keep an eye on the progess for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Brasilians and let us know when we hit milestones.
Thanks for your work. I’m looking forward to being a frequent visitor. Good luck!
Howdy, Jim! Thanks for the compliments, I am all blushed. Yeah, GLBT posts are definitely in my plans. Maybe I could interview you on the view of an expat about the Rio scene and gay rights (or lack of them). What do you say? In what aspects it is diferent from other places?
Regina – I may not be the best source for insight on this topic as I do not read Portuguese very well, so I cannot follow the news as well as I would like (thus some of my enthusiasm for your site).
I do, however, have my experience as a gay man in a relationship here on the ground. Needless to say it is quite a bit different living here than in San Francisco, CA back in the USA. In some ways Brasil is ahead of the US and in some ways behind.
I’d be happy to share my experience, should you find that useful.
Jim, I am sure yours could be a great perspective on the theme. Can I send you a few questions by email and you take your time to answer them? If your partner wants to participate, he is welcome (and you can just point out who said what).
Go for it. I’m happy to participate and I’m sure Luiz will have an opinion. You can decide later if it is of value.
Sounds like a great idea, been to Brazil eight times and I have written several stories about those trips, only one is online now. Would love to link my regular site to this page, it is called Nsane Photography and it has a Brazil page in the Travel section. It is located at; http://www.nsanephotography.com so feel free to check it out and let me know what you think….
Sure! That will be great. By the way, I love the photo with the focused shoe and the unfocused body, at the intro of your website.