The Production and Consumption of Culture in Brazil

Abstract

I intend to focus my analysis on one aspect that I consider fundamental to an understanding of Brazilian society: the dynamics of the production and consumption of Brazilian culture. Specifically I wish to examine the phenomenon of the appropriation of the cultural manifestations of certain social groups by others in society and their transformation into national symbols. In order to make a profound analysis of the dynamics of production and consumption of cultural elements, detailed research is necessary. First, one must examine the cultural manifestations within the country to verify in which groups they originate and their meaning within these groups. Second, one must analyze how these cultural manifestations are seen by the rest of the society and when, and for what motives, they are appropriated and transformed. Finally, it is necessary to study the mechanisms through which certain cultural manifestations, at first restricted to specific social classes, became effectively disseminated in the society at large and were translated and transformed into national symbols. If one tries to reveal the articulations between what is traditionally called popular culture and that which is normally called the dominant culture, one could present as a hypothesis the existence of at least two opposing types of movements. The first takes place when the dominant classes appropriate, elaborate, and finally transform certain cultural manifestations originally restricted to the lower classes into national symbols. The second type follows an opposing trajectory-the popular classes appropriate, elaborate, and then turn into national symbols cultural manifestations that were originally restricted to the dominant classes and were often considered marks of distinction.