Comparing Cariocas and Southerners

Hello all,

It is Wednesday, which typically means 1) an early-morning trip to the farmers’ market and 2) random musing from me. I’ve been to the market already, so…

The US is often referred to as “The Great Melting Pot”. And while it certainly is, Brazil is no less so. The US and Brazil in fact share many parallels. Both are huge and diverse geographically. They were settled about the same time.  From their earliest days, both were infused with influences from both European settlers and African slaves. Successive waves of immigrants added successive layers to the developing cultures.

Of course, there were certainly differences, some of which I’ve discussed in earlier posts. First, by and large folks came to North America to settle, to stay. The earliest Brazilian colonists were typically sent as punishment (Please don’t throw me in the briar patch!) and were here to extract wealth and send it back to Portugal.

On a related note, land distribution was handled differently. While in North America there were certainly individuals who received large land grants, the norm was for settlers to clear and develop small farms – although there were large plantations in the South. In Brazil, there were from the earliest days a few families who owned most of the land and controlled most of the wealth. While in recent years the middle class is growing, a relatively few still control most of the wealth here. (Though don’t kid yourself: This pattern exists to a greter or lesser extent around the world.)

Another difference between the two countries was that Brazil was opened primarily by single men. There were relatively few European women in the early days. Men often took wives and concubines from the Indian and slave populations. In the US, even in the earliest days, men brought their wives and families, often seeking a new start. No doubt the freer mixing of the races, and more relaxed attitudes about it, in Brazil can be traced in part to these patterns of settlement.

So, do the similarities between the US and Brazil outweigh the differences, or vice versa? That’s hard to say. And as both the US and Brazil are so huge and culturally diverse, the answer depends in large part on which part of Brazil you are comparing with which part of the US.

Rio is now my home. I grew up primarily in the Carolinas, North and South. I see many similarities between these two areas.

First, there’s geography. Both here and there you will beaches but also mountains nearby. The variety of topography creates a diversity of culture and activities.

Also, I see many culture similarities, some of them subtle. Someone who grew up in New York or Montana might not notice the parallels, but consider:

There is an emphasis on manners, even in these unpolished times. People open doors for each other. They say “thank you” more often than in other locals. There is a bit more respect for the elderly.

One thing you’ll notice in the American South is that, when asking someone how he/she, everything is always “Fine”. Invariably. A hurricane just swampedthe town, but everything is fine. You see the same thing in Rio, too: Everything is “Beleza.” “Tudo joia.” Even when it clearly isn’t. It’s considered a bit impolite to reply in any other fashion. Both Cariocas and Southerners can be a bit obtuse and it can be difficult to know what someone is truly thinking. You may know that someone is upset with you, but when you inquire why, they deny that anything is amiss. Yankees may shake their heads at the indirectness of Southerners, even thinking them dishonest. I’ve come to accept it, and see much the same behavior here.

A small but curious parallel exists in how Southerners and Cariocas address respected folks, such as elders and superiors. Here an elderly woman, for example, might be addressed as Dona Maria, or Sua Maria – much like Morgan Freeman’s character addressed his charge as “Miss Daisy”. This form of address was, I believe, common in European cultures in earlier days and persists in pockets today.

Food, too is similar here and there. It tends to be simply prepared, with an emphasis on chicken and starches, especially rice. You’ll find less pork here in Brazil perhaps, but many neighborhood botequins sell cracklins, too.

It is interesting to see how the European and African influences fused musically. The Southern US gave the world gospel, rhythm and blues, and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll. Rio adopted and nurtured samba (which actually came from the northeast) and bossa nova. The 50s and 60s saw a great mixing and cross-pollinating in jazz.

Again, there are differences, of course. Here, tea is growing in popularity (Good thing – It gets freakin’ hot here), but it is nowhere near as ubiquitous as iced tea back in the Carolinas, and isn’t about to supplant coffee here.

A more significant difference is that Southern US culture is a bit more closed than the Carioca culture. There are, for example, more taboo topics. Money, religion, politics, and sex would top the list of topics my grandma Burnett would tell me to shun. Brazilians, and certainly Cariocas, are much more likely to ask you personal questions within an hour of meeting you.

One similarity between my old home and my new one is that folks tend to move at a slower pace – though this tendency may have less to do with culture than with the often oppressive heat. If you want to survive, you have to move a little slower.

Speaking of, I think I will take a little nap, y’all.

Ate mais, gente.

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