一窺巴西文化A glimpse of Brazilian culture

巴西一個拉丁美洲國家，被賦予了燦爛的文化。巴西的桑巴舞和足球都是世界級別的，這都涉及到巴西的流行文化。在中級層次上巴西是唯一一個有趣文化的國度---戴上帽子，數數字，不同的手勢表示不同的含義，日常問候和社交禮儀的方式也很多。在深層次上，巴西有著豐富的傳統，如狂歡節和婚禮儀式，以及珍貴的人生價值觀。在最后，管理文化沖擊的提示。

Samba

Samba  is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia, Brazil with its roots in Rio de Janeiro and Africa via the West African slaves who contacted with and incorporated other genres played in the city, acquiring a completely unique character and creating the samba. Considered as one of the most popular Brazilian cultural expressions, samba has become an icon of Brazilian national identity. Instruments commonly used in samba are cavaquinho, bass guitar, 4-string banjo, seven-string guitar, repinique and so on. In the beginning, it began to be played on radio stations, spreading across the hills and neighborhoods to the affluent southern areas of Rio de Janeiro. The samba is frequently associated abroad with football and Carnival. The annual carnival is the best stage to show samba’s magic power. Tourists from domestic, Europe and other places all over the world pour in Rio and Salvador from February to March every year when the carnival is held. Currently, there are hundreds of samba schools held on European soil and scattered among countries like Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Switzerland, according to Wikipedia.

Football

Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazil national football team is ranked among the best in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings. Brazil has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and has been chosen to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Until now, Brazil national football team has come into the World Cup finals 20 times. And it is the first team in the world that has won the World Cup tournament record five times. In addition, Brazil football team has achieved first runner-up 2 times in the World Cup and second runner-up 3 times, according to Wikipedia. In a word, it is the most excellent football team in the world in history. Of course, it produces many outstanding and popular football super stars, such as Pele, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho ,kaka and so on.

The intermediate level

 Norms

1. Ways of putting on hats

Women in Brazil are used to express themselves by different ways of putting on hats. If they put the hat-top on the right, it means they are married；if they put the ha-topt on the left, it means they are unmarried; if they put the hat-top on the center, it means they are depressed because something unfortunate happens to them.

In China, young people indicate their marriage status by different ways of putting on rings. If they put on the ring in the ring figure of the left hand, it means they are married; if they put on the ring in the middle figure of the left hand, it means they engaged; if they put on the ring in the index figure of the left hand, it means they are unmarried.

2. Number

1) In Brazil, 13 is considered as the ominous number, for it could bring in bad luck or disasters.

2) In China, 4 is hated by people because its pronunciation is  similar to that of “死”in Chinese, which means death. 

3. Gestures

1) In China, thumb up just means praising someone for his good job, while it has rich meanings in Brazil. When meeting acquaintances or strangers, Brazilians would raise their thumbs, which means “are you fine?” ; when Brazilians reach an agreement, they would raise their thumbs; when they want to get a lift from someone on the street, they would also raise their thumbs.

2) Contrary to thumb up, thumb down means that something terrible happens.

3) In Brazil, whether males or females, they are allowed to snag their fingers in public and they may be proud of themselves to have a good knowledge of the skill. However, in China, females are thought impolite and inelegant if they snag their fingers in public.

4) In Brazil, stretching out the index finger of the right hand means victory, while in China, it means criticizing. And stretching out the middle finger of the right hand means peace in Brazil, while in China, it is impolite to raise the middle finger.#p#分頁標題#e#

In China, people use an OK sign to express victory and their agreement, but in Brazil, OK is dirty for it is a sign of sexual insult.

4. Daily greetings

1) When meeting acquaintances, it is proper for men to hug each other and pat backs to show their friendliness mutually. But when men meet women, it is polite for them to kiss on the cheek with each other, which is also proper among women.

2) Hand-shaking is accepted in Brazil. It occurs when people meet each other for the first time. People at a higher social status, elder people, hosts and women are considered polite to reach out their hands first.

5. Social etiquette

1) When attending an appointment, Brazilians usually arrive 10 or 15 minutes later than the appointed time. And it is impolite to talk about business affairs at the beginning, unless the host talks first. However, in China, keeping time or not depends on the concrete circumstances. If people are going to attend some important occasions, they had better come earlier; if they are just going to keep an appointment with their friends or attend some causal occasions, it is ok for them to be a little late so long as they attend the appointment.

2) Brazilians pay a lot of attention to their dressing. They put on different dressings on different occasions. In some important political affairs and business activities, Brazilians always dress suits.

3) After receiving a good treatment, it is polite to send a bunch of flowers( not purple flowers) with a thanksgiving card to the host.

4) When communicating with Brazilians, it is proper to talk about the topics, such as football, jokes and fun.

The deep level

Traditions

1. Carnival

Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil. It is not about a big moment in history or about a famous person, but it is important for the people because it's a time of camaraderie, freedom, and almost a whole week without work. People can choose between parties or rest, and most people choose parties. It starts forty days before Easter. It's based on the Christian calendar, but it isn't approved by the Church very well. It lasts four days and four nights. It starts on a Saturday and finishes on a Thursday. People put on their costumes and go out into the streets or to clubs. 

2. Wedding ceremony

Brazilian wedding ceremonies normally follow Christian traditions closely. The bride and groom recite wedding vows to each other after a prayer is read. Then the bride and groom exchange wedding rings. These rings are usually engraved with the name of the groom on the bride’s ring and the name of the bride on the groom’s ring. Once the marriage is confirmed, the bride and groom sign their wedding license and normally the bridesmaids and groomsmen sign as witnesses to prove the legality of the civil marriage.#p#分頁標題#e#

The religious ceremony in the church usually takes around one hour, depending upon the priest who is officiating the wedding. After the religious ceremony, the newlyweds usually throw a big party where they receive the compliments from all the guests. The party usually happens in a different place, a private party house that in Brazil is called a “ceremonial.” In some cases the church where the marriage is held has a sufficiently big space that allows the party to happen there. The party has no time to finish, except explicitly expressed by contract. A lot of singing and dancing goes on usually after the couple dances a Waltz.

Brazilian wedding ceremony is totally different from Chinese wedding ceremony.

The Wedding Banquets In Chinese society, is known as xǐ-jǐu (喜酒, lit. joyful wine).There are ceremonies such as bride presenting wines or tea to parents, spouse, and guests. In modern weddings, the bride generally picks red (following Chinese tradition) or white (more Western) for the wedding, but most will wear the red traditional garment for their formal wedding banquets. Wedding banquets are elaborate and consist usually of 5-10 courses, with ingredients such as shark's fin, abalone, lobster, squab, sea cucumber, swift nests, fish roe in soup or as decoration on the top of a dish to symbolize fertility, and local delicacies. Traditionally, the father of the bride is responsible for the wedding banquet hosted on the bride's side. The wedding banquets are two separate banquets: the primary banquet is hosted once at the bride's side, the second banquet (smaller banquet) at the groom's side. While the wedding itself is often based on the couple's choices. The wedding banquets are a gesture of "thanks" and appreciation to those that have raised the bride and groom (such as grandparents and uncles). It is also to ensure the relatives on each side meet the relatives on the other side. ThusK out of respect for the elders, wedding banquets are usually done formally and traditionally, which the older generation is thought to be more comfortable with, according to Wikipedia.

6. Value

Brazilians sneer at people who are lazy, anarchistic. In the past, Brazilians were proud of themselves for getting a good job by making use of their ties with relatives. For example, they were happy and felt at ease to work in the company owned by one of their relatives. And women were lucky if they were the house wives of a middle class family. However, in modern times, Brazilian life value has been totally changed. Working is considered as a matter of morality. People who don’t have a job will be hated by other people, whether women or men. Now, Brazilians enjoy going rich by their own hard work and effort.

Values are shared ideas about what is right or wrong, what is fair or unfair, what is important or not important. Values act as the blood of any culture. If foreigners don’t learn anything about the targeted country’s value, they are likely to be involved in a cultural shock. So it is very important for foreigners to learn something about the values of the country they travel to or settle down. Therefore, by understanding Brazilian values, foreigners can find what is proper or improper for them to do, and what differences exist between their cultures and Brazilian culture. Only by this way, can foreigners figure creative ways to harness the differences and to find common ground to work with Brazilians, and thus they can avoid cultural shock as much as possible. #p#分頁標題#e#

Managing cultural shock

The fundamental need for newcomers in an unfamiliar culture is addressing the sense of emotional insecurity and vulnerability. The more competent newcomers are at managing their identity threat level, the more they are able to induce effective adaptation outcomes. New arrivals can defuse their perceived threat and anxiety level by 1) increasing their motivations to learn about Brazilian culture;2) keeping their expectations realistic and increasing their familiarity of Brazilian special norms, like the ominous number 13 ways of putting on hats, and values; 3) increasing their linguistic fluency and learning why, how and under what situations certain phrases or gestures are appropriate. For example, if a newcomer wants to get a life from someone, it is proper for him to raise his thumb; 4) developing strong ties( close friends) and weak ties(acquaintanceships) to manage identity stress and loneliness; 6) being mindful of their interpersonal behaviors and suspending ethnocentric evaluations of Brazilian culture.

To conclude, I hope I will make a difference to help foreigners who go to Brazil learn something about the country. By learning about the surface level, intermedia level and deep level of Brazilian culture, foreigners can avoid cultural shock and even establish friendship with Brazilians. That is my goal of my paper.