Carnivals, Rogues, and Heroes

by Matta, Roberto Da; Drury, John

• ISBN13: 9780268007805
• ISBN10: 0268007802
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1991-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

Carnivals, Rogues, and heroes, by renowned Brazilian anthropologist Roberto DaMatta, offers a fresh, provocative, and multi-faceted interpretation of Brazil, a modern, complex, and often misunderstood nation that encompasses half of the continent of South America.
Using the tools of comparative social anthropology, DaMatta seeks to understand his native country by examining the values, attitudes, and systems that shape the identity of Brazil. This leads him to probe the dilemma between the highly authoritarian, hierarchical aspects of Brazilian society and the concurrent desire for equality, democracy, and harmony in the same society.
Addressing the question "who are we as a nation and a society?" DaMatta focuses on carnival as well as other rituals, exploring how nation and society function complementarily as two systems in opposition and conflict, thus presenting Brazilians with different ways of "reading" and interpreting their culture.
DaMatta's fascinating exploration of Brazilian carnivals, rogues, and heroes not only leads to a new and deeper understanding of Brazil but also contributes to a modern appreciation of rituals, symbols, and dramatizations.

Table of Contents

Preface to the English Edition
Introduction	p. 1
The Approach: Social Anthropology or Comparative Sociology	p. 4
Time, History, and the Social Anthropology of Ritual Life	p. 11
The Role of Rituals	p. 15
Some Thoughts on Ritual and Social Life	p. 18
Carnivals, Military Parades, and Processions	p. 26
Of Routines and Rites	p. 28
Carnival and Independence Day: A Comparison	p. 33
Historic time and cosmic time	p. 33
Authorities and the common people	p. 36
Of uniforms and fancy costumes	p. 40
Some Theoretical Problems	p. 42
The Basic Mechanisms of Ritualization	p. 49
Conclusions	p. 59
The Many Levels of Carnival	p. 61
Two Basic Social Domains: The House and the Street	p. 63
The House and the Street: Dialectics, Symbolization, and Ritualization	p. 68
Basic Forms of Displacement	p. 73
The Invention of Carnival	p. 78
A special space	p. 81
A manifold space	p. 85
A rite without a patron	p. 87
The groups of Carnival	p. 90
Conclusion: The Dramatization of Carnival	p. 102
Carnival in Rio and Mardi Gras in New Orleans: A Contrastive Study	p. 116
"Carnival" in Brazil and the United States	p. 117
The Two Carnivals: Social Organization and Ideologies	p. 121
Carnivals of Equality and Hierarchy	p. 128
"Do You Know Who You're Talking To?!" The Distinction between Individual and Person in Brazil	p. 137
The Expression in Theory and Practice	p. 142
The Expression as a Dramatization of the Social World	p. 159
On the Distinction between Individual and Person	p. 170
The Dialectic between Individual and Person	p. 177
The Individual, the Person, and Brazilian Society	p. 183
Zones of Passage	p. 189
Pedro Malasartes and the Paradox of Roguery	p. 198
A Triangle of Dramas, a Triangle of Heroes	p. 207
The Myth of Malasartes	p. 217
The Origins of Pedro Malasartes	p. 220
Mediations	p. 226
Mediation by honesty	p. 226
Mediation by vengeance	p. 230
Augusto Matraga and the Hour of Renunciation	p. 239
Names, Persona, and Social Trajectory	p. 248
Marginality, Renunciation, and Vengeance	p. 251
The Hour of Renunciation	p. 259
Of Rogues, Avengers, and Renouncers	p. 262
References	p. 267
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