Cultural Identities

Com base na relação que se estabelece entre o patrimônio cultural religioso e o processo de negociação da identidade do imigrante italiano, Cesar Barichello investiga como foi negociada a identidade do imigrante italiano do berço da Quarta Colônia Imperial de Imigração Italiana na região central do Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil.  A hipótese considerada é que a negociação da identidade daqueles imigrantes deu-se por meio da devoção religiosa e pode ser evidenciada por intermédio do patrimônio cultural religioso (igrejas, capelas e iconografia) e introdução de devoções. A pesquisa de campo e a identificação de fontes foram realizadas em três momentos distintos: o primeiro consistiu na identificação de igrejas, capelas e crenças tomando como suporte territorial as diferentes linhas de assentamento dos colonos; o segundo na observação do cotidiano religioso vivido pelo descente do imigrante italiano; e o terceiro na pesquisa de fontes utilizando a técnica de entrevistas, efetuadas com membros da comunidade de Silveira Martins que possuam um envolvimento com os movimentos religiosos ou possam colaborar para elucidar a percepção da população, e a sua própria percepção, a respeito do objeto em estudo. O objetivo geral deste estudo é investigar as relações desenvolvidas entre o patrimônio cultural religioso e o processo de negociação da identidade do imigrante italiano da Quarta Colônia Imperial de Silveira Martins e da região central do Rio Grande do Sul. Os objetivos específicos são identificar igrejas, capelas, oratórios, santos padroeiros e devoções religiosas presentes nas linhas de assentamento dos imigrantes de Silveira Martins; realizar observação in loco durante a realização dos filós nos salões paroquiais das diferentes capelas; investigar por meio de entrevistas com membros das comunidades a origem dos santos padroeiros, suas possíveis ligações com grupos étnicos e seus significados representados concreta (igrejas e capelas, oratórios) ou simbolicamente (santos padroeiros e devoções).

Maracatu-nação is a traditional Afrobrazilian cultural expression, which popularity’s has increased over the past years. After years being considered as a culture designed for black poor people, maracatus are now the protagonists of Recife’s carnival as well as incite interest in white middle class people all over Brazil and some parts of the world, who build their own maracatu groups. This “spectacularization” caused several impacts into their meanings, internal structure, communitarian bonds, sacred dimensions, and the way they present their music, dance and performance in general, most of them with commercial purposes. The relevance of the market to those groups also appeared along their cultural inventory, project required as part of the process of registration as intangible heritage. Besides their recent visibility, for the majority of the traditional groups, turning into an official cultural heritage and touristic attraction did not bring them autonomy or dignified life conditions. In fact, the groups who maintain close relations to the middle class are the ones with better infra-structure, more financial resources and huger spaces on the market. Those few groups are considered models to be followed, encouraging a tendency of standardization among traditional groups and the decrease of their diversity. Despite of negative consequences observed in the relation between traditional maracatus and the middle class, youngsters believe their practice encourage cultural interchange and social justice.
Considering this controversial situation involving traditional culture, safeguard policies, cultural market and consumers, the main goal of the research is to analize the relation between maracatus nação and cultural market. In order to achieve that the study will consider the past and present spaces designed for those groups, their strategies of insertion and negotiation as well as the changes of their internal structure and meanings encouraged by this context. The research will also analize the related processes like globalization, the emergence of new identities and imagined communities, the interest for world music and “exotic” cultures worldwide. Finally, the research will present a discussion upon cultural heritages’ policies in Brazil, through a study case of maracatus-nação’s heritage registering process where the power relations and expectations from different groups (maracatuzeiros, politicians and the agencies responsible for the heritage’s policies), revealed the several obstacles concerning the promotion of safeguard policies.

I’m PhD-student in digital culture at the University of Turku. My doctoral thesis is focusing on the individual roles and cultural identity, in the Second Life virtual world as an operating environment as well as Open Access activity in the virtual world.  My title is “User’s roles and cultural identities in the University of Rockcliffe in Second Life.”

La relación entre religión y política  en  América  Latina  debe  comprenderse en el marco  de  las transformaciones sociopolíticas y culturales recientes en la era de  la post-Guerra Fría  y la inserción de  las sociedades latinoamericanas en los procesos  globalizadores.  Las transformaciones del  campo  religioso  latinoamericano y su pluralización creciente, y los cambios  en la cultura política,  son claves para  la adecuada comprensión de las complejas  y transversales relaciones entre el campo religioso y el campo  político y entre las creencias de los ciudadanos y sus opciones políticas en la región.
La re-configuración de las sociedades civiles y los estados  latinoamericanos, en el proceso de inserción a la globalización capitalista, han  modificado los anteriores referentes religiosos y políticos y sus relaciones mutuas caracterizando la particular modernidad en  América  Latina,  elevando la complejidad de  esas relaciones e imposibilitando enfoques reductivistas. Este libro pretende entregar elementos de comprensión de  este  nuevo  abordaje al tema  que  ha  sido  propuesto: religión, política  y cultura en América Latina.

this research work has as object of study the relationship between local history and cultural identity of Yao (2008 - 2012). It is intended through which to understand the contribution of local history education to strengthen the cultural identity of Yao From Lichinga.

This article discusses the ongoing debates about classics reading (dujing 读经) in the revitalisation and diversification of Confucian classical education in mainland China. It begins by reviewing two disputes about dujing in modern Chinese history and then turns to the contemporary debate, focusing on how one professional and experienced practitioner expounded on the disparities in practicing classical education. The author summarises three controversial issues—(1) the relationship between the educative principles and methods, (2) historical legitimacy, and (3) the linguistic nature of Chinese language. Based on these, this paper reflects on the current dujing movement by concluding that the diversification of classical education has complicated the authenticity of “Chineseness” and rendered it a debatable public issue.

Manifestaciones como los blogs, la identidad construida en la red, las wikis, los avatares, la publicidad, la música, los juegos video, la televisión interactiva,  la e-economy , pero también la informacion y los deportes, toda la esfera pública y privada del sujeto social en este siglo XXI se ve afectada, modificada y expresada por la cibercultura. Una nueva semioesfera, a la manera de Lotman, una cultura anclada en la vida cotidiana donde el streaming, Deezer o Spotify introducen una nueva manera de escuchar la música, como el gramófono hizo irrupción en los salones a principios del siglo pasado, cambiando para siempre la forma de relacionarse en sociedad y generando la poderosísima industria discográfica. Solo que en la cultura ciber la presencia de los algoritmos, termino caro a Eliseo Colon en la descripción de estas nuevas prácticas culturales, se vuelve central porque los nuevos medios se adaptan a la demanda y no son solo la oferta.

The aim of the research is to comprehend and analyze the Tropicália movement under the anthropological perspective of the bodily and performatic uses. To do that, a historical and cultural contextualization of the circumstances that created the movement is discussed in the first chapter, within the political and dictatorial context, as well as the artistic innovations of the moment. In addition, the plural spaces and the cultural and artistic movements that contributed to the conception of Tropicália are presented so the formation of a new cultural identity can be understood. The second chapter includes the most theoretical fragment of the study, presenting some perspectives inside the Anthropology of the Body and of the Performance, discussing crucial authors such as Marcel Mauss, Paul Zumthor, Erving Goffman and David Le Breton, in an attempt to constantly dialogue with the movement and the visual arts of the 1960’s. Lastly, the third chapter analyzes the covers of the Long Plays (LPs), interviews and photografies from 1967 to 1973, exceeding the temporal duration of Tropicália, for it is important to comprehend the behavior and performative resonances in this short period of time after its dissolution. The objective of this chapter is based on applying the theories discussed in the second chapter inside the analysis of the empirical object. The method used in this study is the bibliographic revision of the theoretical and empirical material, with the documental and audiovisual sources, besides the iconographic and interviews analyzes.

Exploring Racism in the Classroom Three of the most emotionally charged terms in this era are race, racism, and White privilege. Definitions for these terms vary by individual experiences, beliefs, opinions, and perceptions. K-20 students are rarely exposed to a detailed coverage and critical analysis of the part of U.S. history that includes displacement of Native Americans; differing immigration policies and quotas by ethnicity; and involuntary enslavement of and brutality toward Africans. It is not enough for curriculum content to address one or more of these issues. The cultural heritage not consistent with the majority cultural lens is essential in the understanding of the multidimensional aspects of cultural groups. It is an even less frequent occurrence that these, and other oppressed groups, are presented as viable and valuable and their strategies of survival and unwillingness to be subjugated are addressed. Among these historical facts are the following: * Native Americans who refused to relocate, eluded efforts to be involuntarily enslaved, and preserved their cultural heritage against all odds; * immigrant contributions to the economic development of this country; * the skills and professions of Africans extricated from their homeland; the first Africans in the Americas were not enslaved nor indentured servants; and * the population of individuals of African ancestry who were college educated and professionals, prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Adult Education and Racism in the 21st Century As we project the future of our andragogical practices in adult education, we continue our focus from the past on emancipatory acquisition of new knowledge and practical application for social action and change. Our adult learners are less representative of the Eurocentric male model that continues to pervade the adult education profession and research. The faithful minority of scholars has continued to research and publish on the necessity of dismantling the hegemonic systems and policies of structural racism and White privilege in the academic, business, and community arenas of adult education. Many of these scholars are authors of chapters in The Handbook of Race and Adult Education, edited by Sheared et al. (2010). Metelsky and Easley (2012) reviewed the book and identified the wealth of tools for the formal and nonformal adult educator in facilitating knowledge awareness, critical reflection/ analysis, guiding curricula redesign, recommending supplemental resources, developing research topics, and so forth. The dialogical model of the textbook is a sharp contrast from theoretically focused textbooks. It invites the reader into a pseudo-relationship with the author(s). The handbook provides the blending of strategies from Freire's dialogical model of engagement and Critical Race Theory's principles of racism as normalized and the quantification of racism via the lived experiences of the marginalized cultural groups. An emerging trend is the utilization of intragroup dialogues, in addition to intergroup dialogues on issues of race, power, and racism. Two undergraduate courses by an Intergroup Relations Program were evaluated for the impact of the intragroup and intergroup dialogues (Ford & Malaney, 2012). The findings included positive perceptions from students of the creation of safe places for intragroup dialogue and development of alliances for social action and change from intergroup dialogue. Racial Landscape We want to believe racial discrimination is behind us, and we are now a postracial society. Yet asking what appears as an innocuous question--Does racism still exist in your community?--elicits a wide spectrum of emotions and responses. Adult educators encourage classroom discourse that includes current events such as * the arrest of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at his home; * stand your ground laws and the murder of Trayvon Martin; * the handcuffing of Jackson, Mississippi public school students to poles and railings for hours for the perceived noncriminal violations of school rules (i. …

This thesis discusses the concepts of originality and subalternity in Portuguese colonialism and post-colonialism, according to Boaventura de Sousa Santos, in connection to the concepts of identity and otherness in the novel The Mermaid's Other Foot, by Mozambican writer Mia Couto, and the diverse calibanic and inter-identitarian discourses that arise in the novel.<br>

El trabajo hace referencia a las modificacioneslegislativas que se hangenerado a partir de los años 90 enMéxico, y cómo estas han influido enla oferta y el contenido audiovisual denuestro país. El estudio, realizado conbase en la técnica del análisis de contenido,enfoca su atención en el ciney en la televisión, y concluye que enesta materia el gobierno ha actuado dedistinta forma en cada uno de ellos, yaque mientras por una parte se ha protegidoa la industria de la televisión,por la otra se ha abandonado al cine asu suerte.

Ethnography shows us that people live in worlds with cultural meanings and in different material circumstances, subjugated by neoliberal economic policies that liquidate hope for the future. But it also shows us that they outline their existence based on concrete realities and festive projects, as a strategy to resist the gradual destruction of their ways of life, using culture as a tool to imagine possible futures (Godinho 2017). The purpose of this text is to question the intentionality and motivation of the organizers of two festivals, creators of collective imagery that value the socioeconomic contexts of the places in which they are registered, and the social relations networks that materialize them.

Le récit des origines troyennes d’un peuple non grec était d’abord un mythe grec, conçu et développé par des Grecs et pour des Grecs, attesté un peu partout dans le bassin méditerranéen dès la fin de l’époque archaïque. L’identité troyenne revendiquée par les Romains, au moins à partir du IVe siècle av. J.-C., n’était qu’une des composantes de l’identité romaine, mais une composante qui leur permettait d’afficher une parenté avec le monde grec, une forme d’« altérité incluse », tout en se distinguant de ce monde grec par la revendication d’une forme d’« hellénisme de frontière ». Le lien étroit entre organisation politique et organisation religieuse dans la Rome antique explique la facilité avec laquelle une identité d’origine mythique et étrangère a pu être intégrée et servir de support à certains cultes publics romains pendant la période républicaine

Within the debate on the effects of globalization on literature, the conference considers the new meanings of local imaginaries in recent novels by Spanish-American writers. In the current narrative, there is a shift from the "globalized" imaginaries to the local scenarios and problems. The novels published since 2000, although being written from European or USA locations, place the action in America and take position on some important national problems.

The analysis of the Latin American narrative of the 21st century reflects that we are witnessing a reconfiguration of the dynamics of globalization. Precisely, when geographical localization seemed to be surpassed by non-places, nomadism, transterritoriality and transnationality, current authors go back to their local models, they return to their surroundings and their problems. Their stories show signs of an intrusion of the particular, a kind of a return to what concerns the nation itself, its identity, its history. A new interest in spatial concepts revives. As a consequence of global trends, these writings demonstrate focus on the local and a new prioritization of interests.

Archaeological investigations into late iron age and medieval coastal soci­eties in Sweden have been focusing on a maritime culture, a traditional coastal and island-dwelling fisher-farmer and activities centered on fishing in a long maritime tradition as well as a specific maritime identity and ha­bi­tus. By deconstructing commonly used concepts and by using primarily written sources, it is here shown that there is a need for putting this culture and its agents into perspective by opening up the history of the maritime interspace and let in previously overlooked or disregarded historical actors in the narrative field dominated by men and landed farmers, such as landless, powerless, strangers, foreig­ners and women. The coast is shown to have been an arena for opportunism, societal expansion under landed gentry, nodes for pro­cure­ment and social oppression and focal points for inter-cultural contacts, trade, networking and self-realization and that the role of the islands and the “fisheries” was constantly remolded to fit different power strategies. Through a series of case studies, seldom discussed social relations, social groups and social predicaments are unmasked and discussed; the relation between norse and proto-Saami cultures, the role of women in fishing, em­ploy­ment of the poor or serfs, of incentives by strangers and foreig­ners. Many localities speak of con­flict, struggle and self-sought or forced marginal­ization; the emer­­gence of taxa­tion and the control of fishing, piracy and insurgency but also of exile, reclusion and asceticism. Running through history there has been a dicho­tomy and tension between the workforce and the benefactor, between small-scale and large-scale maritime procurement, between cooper­ation and con­flict and between the meeting place and the hidden refuge. To conclude, the study sketches the ethno genesis of the hitherto “fisher-farmer” and exposes a wider set of actors and their strategies in the maritime space and ends with advocating a series of potentially fruitful research frameworks of study; cultural niches in the maritime environment, actor geographies in the out­back, the use of maritime produce in societal transformations, and to further investigate the harsh, hidden or exposed, islands as places for sociocultural and economical strategies with profound social, psychological and spiritual impact

This thesis discusses the concepts of originality and subalternity in Portuguese colonialism and post-colonialism, according to Boaventura de Sousa Santos, in connection to the concepts of identity and otherness in the novel The Mermaid's Other Foot, by Mozambican writer Mia Couto, and the diverse calibanic and inter-identitarian discourses that arise in the novel.

Does European society need a shared culture to create more links and foster integration, or will it be the diversification and plurality of values that will prove more productive, providing an antidote to autocratic and populist nationalist drifts? What are the institutional conditions for the emergence of a new social and political formation at European level? These are some of the questions that frame this volume, which analyses the different aspects of the European crisis in the light of the question of shared values, not only looking at the processes of division but also at the resources of creativity and cooperation at the social level. The reflection therefore aspires to bring out the signals, and to bring to light the traces of a process that could evolve towards a sort of European Renaissance. Non-discrimination, tolerance, social justice, equality between women and men are among the fundamental values of the European project, yet they are called into question by the many exogenous and endogenous challenges: the financialisation of the economy, environmental problems, new migrations, international terrorism, but also unemployment, poverty and growing inequalities. The need for security seems to have gained a position of absolute centrality in European societies, to the point of eclipsing and overshadowing all other values. However, there is another side to the coin. The crisis sets in motion processes of social mobilisation based on the values of solidarity and the defence of minority rights: particularly emblematic in this respect is the area of reception of migrants and refugees, which has been taken up here as a challenge and, at the same time, an opportunity to rethink the process of institution-building at European level.

This paper reviews the issue of the peopling of the Dogon Country (Mali) and surrounding regions over the past 3000 years, taking into account the influence of Sahelian paleoclimatic variations as well as archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and historical data. The integration of all these elements is important in order to understand the conditions of settlement in this region now listed as part of UNESCO’s natural and cultural world heritage. The new archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnoarchaeological data presented here were gathered through the international pluridisciplinary research program “Paleoenvironment and Human Population in West Africa” begun in 1997. This program is centered on the study of Ounjougou, an area located in the Yame valley on the Bandiagara Plateau. It includes numerous archaeological sites exposed by recent erosion processes, indicating the presence of human populations from the Lower Paleolithic to present times.