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The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization

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Gilberto Freyre is now considered one of the grestest thinkers of Brazil, alongside Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda. As mrs. Laidman recognized, we can't look for his work as if it's been written yesterday: when many people all over Americas (both North and South) believed that "whitening population" was the solution to all problems; when fascists and nazis took power in Europe, Freyre looked at mixture of races and saw it as a positive feature, something that could lead our people to a better place, God knows where, but better. During the 60's and 70's his ideas were fiercely attacked by new generations of sociologists and historians - and that's good, that's how science advances. But, they attacked him, mostly, for his political positions. Today, people rediscovered Freyre, understood him on his own time. Yes, his presumptions about sex addicted people, indian women burning in desire and so on are considered today too much. But the essence, the mix of races and cultures as a positive fact, the understanding of Portuguese government as something absent and masters of plantions, on the absence of State, rulling their slaves and families and regions, masters as the actual power in colonial Brazil, is considered a remarkable way to understand our country and it's people. By the way, many people in Black Movement also recognizes Freyre and his role in understand Brazil's black influences. Despite his presumptions, Freyre is more up to date than ever.

When Gilberto Freyre first launched this essay, 1933, it revolutioned the way brazilians thought about themselves. Until then, we understood us as a "white nation", with some black people who, eventually, would disappear. Black people's only importance were as slaves, planting sugar cane or coffee. Freyre brings to History black people's contributions: culturally, genetically. Most of all, underlines that brazilians are a mix of cultures and races, not a pure race, and it is a positive feature for as all.

Freyre did extensive research for "The Masters and the Slaves, A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization", an informative and stimulating social history of Brazil. However, not all of what is written should be taken at face value.

The book was written more than 50 years ago and Freyre, like any other historian or ethnologist, unavoidably comes to the table with cultural and personal biases transparent to himself.

Freyre makes a number of presumptions, sometimes contradictory, sometimes a bit absurd from today's perspective, about the sexual attributes, habits and dispositions of the Amerindians, peoples of African descent and the Portuguese. Portuguese men are categorized as oversexed (over and over again), Amerindian women as ever willing sexual partners while the Africans are determined to be less sexual because they use music and dancing to stimulate their sexual urges (!). Then, just to confuse the reader, Freyre talks about Africans escaping to the Brazilian bush and `raping' the (ever willing?) Amerindian woman. Did these alleged rapists bring their drummers with them? All three groups can step forward and take offense at Freyre's presumptions.

In the year 2000 we would interpret Freyre's presumptions as racist, but we have the benefit of hindsight and he didn't. In his time he would have been considered forward looking and anything but a racist. The reader needs to take note of the author's presumptions, biases and preoccupations and then continue reading. All things considered, this is a remarkable and valuable piece of scholarship.

Se você quiser saber o que é o Brasil, mesmo hoje, você tem de ler esse livro para entender-nos!!

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