Frankfurt - Looking beyond stereotypes of Brazil
Print Edition
Samba, soccer and Carnival may provide poster images of Brazil but the Latin American country has urged the global book world, gathered in Germany, to look beyond the stereotypes.
With 70 writers and a lively line-up of events, Brazil has pulled out the stops at the Frankfurt Book Fair to shine a light on its literature and culture as guest of honor, while protests hit the headlines at home.
Award-winning children’s writer Ana Maria Machado said Brazil was not perceived, unlike some of its neighbors, as a “land of literature” but with stereotypes based more on “the culture of what is immediately, sensually appreciable: the body.”
“But it’s a body whose intellect is usually forgotten,” she bemoaned, “as if we didn’t have one, in the celebration of our dances and our music, of football, capoeira and other sports, of sensuality, of bronzed skin on display on the beaches, of Carnival and of caipirinha.”
The literature is not only diverse but also reflects the country’s problems, with society and politics playing a role, the author, who is also the president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, told the opening ceremony.
Brazil is gearing up to step into the global limelight, by hosting soccer’s World Cup next year and South America’s first Olympics two years later.
But it has been hit by protests over the costs of the events.
Angry demonstrators argue the money would be better spent on improving transport, education and health services for poor Brazilians, and thousands rallied this week to support teachers’ calls for a pay rise.
Writer Luiz Ruffato highlighted the prevalence of violent crime in Brazil, intolerance of gays, and low-ranked schooling.
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