In the 1933 publication The Masters and the Slaves; Brazilian scholar and novelist Gilberto Freyre challenged the racist ideas of his day by defending the “African contribution†to Brazil’s culture. In so doing; he proposed that Brazil was relatively free of most forms of racial prejudice and could best be understood as a “racial democracy.†Over time this view has grown into the popular myth that racism in Brazil is very mild or nonexistent.This myth contrasts starkly with the realities of a pernicious racial inequality that permeates every aspect of Brazilian life. To study the grip of this myth on African Brazilians’ views of themselves and their nation; Robin E. Sheriff spent twenty months in a primarily black shantytown in Rio de Janeiro; studying the inhabitants’s views of race and racism. How; she asks; do poor African Brazilians experience and interpret racism in a country where its very existence tends to be publicly denied? How is racism talked about privately in the family and publicly in the community—or is it talked about at all?Sheriff’s analysis is particularly important because most Brazilians live in urban settings; and her examination of their views of race and racism sheds light on common but underarticulated racial attitudes. This book is the first to demonstrate that urban African Brazilians do not subscribe to the racial democracy myth and recognize racism as a central factor shaping their lives.
#1671422 in Books Westview Press 1994-07-19Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .92 x 6.00l; 1.17 #File Name: 0813313473400 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. An excellent text for anyone interested in Chinese cultureBy PBjWWhile there are many books that cover periods of Chinese history; there are far fewer that cover the cultural and mental landscape of those historical periods. This text is one of the few that truly succeeds in explaining how and why this specific period (the Qing Dynasty; 1644-1911) was unique in China's history.The very foreignness of the ruling elite; the Manchus; always ensured a distinctiveness to this reign. Yet it was additionally always the Manchu intent to tolerate; incorporate; and at times even promote those elements of the conquered Chinese society that would bring stability and success to the empire. The text's first three chapters on the Qing inheritance; political order and its social and economic institutions thus set the stage for the following chapters on language; prominent philosophies; religion; art; literature; social life; and emergence into the 20th Century.The chapters on language (Ch. 5); art (Ch. 8) and literature (Ch. 9) are especially well-written; truly insightful in their understanding of these subjects and well-written in a style that is page-turning. I would have loved to have been an undergraduate in Professor Smith's class at Rice; he must be one of their leading instructors and it is clear that these well-written; easy-to-understand chapters are the result of having mastered the challenging task of making very complicated information easily understood (as the compiler of the "Mustard Seed Garden Manual" referred to below; wrote; "If you aim for simplicity; master complexity").An example from his chapter on Chinese art; a subject that is of particular interest to me: all art historians have studied the importance of the yin/yang bipolarities in understanding the influences at work in Chinese art; yet Smith covers this subject so he can continue to show its importance in understanding Chinese connoisseurship. In the section on painting and calligraphy; for example; he explains the criteria that brushwork needs to embody both the Confucian concept of 'li' (which he defines as "a standard for realism and general metaphor for creative process") as well as 'qi' (spirit) in order to create an organic whole. This artistic oneness is expressed in Chinese as 'kaihe' ("opening and closing" or "expanding and contracting"); and through the yin/yang lens thus creates the expectation within traditional Chinese painting that there will always be a balance of the two forces--the brush moves down before coming up; lightness will be complemented with darkness; movement with stillness; to create a harmonic and rhythmic whole. Seen in this light; the full understanding of why the Chinese have chosen the expression 'shanshui' ("mountains + water") to identify landscape paintings takes on a deeper meaning. This book is worth this chapter alone and I have recommended it to many who want to have a deeper understanding of Chinese art.A final word: the author writes in the preface to the second edition that he has taken to heart some comments made on the first edition of the book that it was "too abstract and impersonal." No one could make that complaint today. The book sings with wonderful examples of specific individuals; books; paintings and stories that illustrate the points being made. As a result; it also brings together many diverse data points for those who already have a background in Chinese history. (You may have heard of the orthodox painter Wang Hui; for example; but Professor Smith now puts him in the context of the Six Great Masters of the Qing; you may have read "The Mustard Seed Garden Manual" but you now understand it's far more than a painting manual.)In short; this book is destined to become a classic for those wishing to understand not just the Qing Dynasty; but the very way the Manchus and the Chinese perceived their world in a period recognized by many as China's grandest "pre-modern" years.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy Andrew P WarnerInteresting approach and focus and well written overview of Qing China.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. A rich portrait of a cultureBy Charles SmytheThis book is a model for what a cultural survey should be. It begins with an excellent brief survey of Chinese history of the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries; then surveys many things I wanted to know about an alien culture. I was most intrigued by the chapter on "Language and Symbolic Reference" (read after my brief traveller's survival course in Manderin). Dr. Smith explored not only the differences between the language and those of the West; but their implications for the Chinese style of thought: e.g.; the spoken vocabulary is rich in homonyms and puns; leading to a style of reasoning by analogy and verbal similarity that comes far less naturally to speakers of the Romance languages.Smith also covers; for instance; social class; economics; religion and philosophy; art; literature; popular culture...an endless parade of the things mere histories rarely mention.This is certainly the most interesting book I've read in a decade. I highly recommend it.
