The culture of Brazil has been shaped by the amalgamation of diverse indigenous cultures, and the cultural fusion that took place among Indigenous communities, Portuguese colonists, and Africans, primarily during the Brazilian colonial period. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Brazil received a significant number of immigrants, primarily of Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and German origin, which along with smaller numbers of Austrians, Dutch, French, Russians, Armenians, Arabs, Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, Swiss, Hungarians, Greeks, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans gave a relevant contribution to the formation of regional cultures in Brazil, and thus contributed to its current existence as a plural and racially diverse society.
As consequence of three centuries of colonization by the Portuguese Empire, many aspects of Brazilian culture are derived from the culture of Portugal. The numerous Portuguese inheritances include the language, cuisine items such as rice and beans and feijoada, the predominant religion and the colonial architectural styles. These aspects, however, were influenced by African and Indigenous traditions, as well as those from other Western European countries. Some aspects of Brazilian culture are contributions of Italian, Spaniard, German, Japanese and other European immigrants. Amerindian people and Africans also played an important role in the formation of Brazilian language, cuisine, music, dance and religion.
This diverse cultural background has helped show off many celebrations and festivals that have become known around the world, such as the Brazilian Carnival and the Bumba Meu Boi. These events help make Brazil a popular destination for tourists, with over 1 million visitors annually.
History
Brazil was a colony of Portugal for over three centuries. About a million Portuguese settlers arrived during this period and brought their culture to the colony. The Indigenous inhabitants of Brazil had much contact with the colonists. Many became extinct, and others mixed with the Portuguese. For that reason, Brazil also holds Amerindian influences in its culture, mainly in its food and language. Brazilian Portuguese has hundreds of words of Indigenous American origin, mainly from the Old Tupi language.
Black Africans, who were brought as slaves to Brazil, also participated actively in the formation of Brazilian culture. Although the Portuguese colonists forced their slaves to convert to Catholicism and speak Portuguese, their cultural influences were absorbed by the inhabitants of Brazil of all races and origins. Some regions of Brazil, especially Bahia, have particularly notable African inheritances in music, cuisine, dance and language.
Immigrants from Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary and the Middle East played an important role in the areas they settled (mostly Southern and Southeastern Brazil). They organized communities that became important cities such as Joinville, Caxias do Sul, Blumenau, Curitiba and brought important contributions to the culture of Brazil.
Modernism in Brazil started with the Modern Art Week held in São Paulo in 1922 and was characterized by experimentation and interest in Brazilian society and culture, as well as rebellion against influence from Europe and the United States and the orthodoxy of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Tarsila do Amaral and Oswald de Andrade were among the catalysts of the movement in Brazil, with works such as Manifesto Pau-Brasil, Abaporu, and Manifesto Antropófago. In the 1930s, sociologists such as Gilberto Freyre and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda published ideas about Brazilian culture, society, and identity, presenting concepts such as "racial democracy" and the "cordial man".
During the military dictatorship (1964–1985) and especially following the Institutional Act Number Five in 1968, the government censored material—including art, literature, music, theatre, film, etc.—that it deemed subversive or against "morality and good manners." Tropicália or Tropicalismo was a movement against this repression and authoritarianism, from both the government and the Catholic Church. Part of the counterculture of the 1960s, Tropicalismo was led by figures such as Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso and manifested itself primarily in music.
Language
The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. It is spoken by about 99% of the population, making it one of the strongest elements of national identity. There are only some Amerindian groups and small pockets of immigrants who do not speak Portuguese.
Similarly to American English and Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese is more phonetically conservative or archaic than the language of the colonizing metropolis, maintaining several features that European Portuguese had before the 19th century.Noll, Volker, "Das Brasilianische Portugiesisch", 1999.
Also similarly to American English, the Brazilian regional variation, as well as the European one, include a small number of words of Indigenous American and African origin, mainly restricted to place names and fauna and flora.
Minority languages are spoken throughout the nation. One hundred and eighty Amerindian languages are spoken in remote areas and several other languages are spoken by immigrants and their descendants. There are significant communities of German (mostly the Hunsrückisch, a High German language dialect) and Italian (mostly the Talian dialect, of Venetian origin) speakers in the south of the country, both of which are influenced by the Portuguese language. Not to mention the Slavic communities, Ukrainians and Poles which are also part of these minority languages.
The Brazilian Sign Language (not signed Portuguese – it likely is descended from the French Sign Language), known by the acronym , is officially recognized by law, albeit using it alone would convey a very limited degree of accessibility, throughout the country.
Religion
About 2/3 of the population are Roman Catholics. Catholicism was introduced and spread largely by the Portuguese Jesuits, who arrived in 1549 during the colonization with the mission of converting the Indigenous people. The Society of Jesus played a large role in the formation of Brazilian religious identity until their expulsion from the country by the Marquis of Pombal in the 18th century.
In recent decades Brazilian society has witnessed a rise in Protestantism. Between 1940 and 2010, the percentage of Roman Catholics fell from 95% to 64.6%, while the various Protestant denominations rose from 2.6% to 22.2%.
The African-Brazilian religion of Candomblé, with its orixá deities derived from Yoruba traditions, is particularly important in Salvador and Bahia in general.
Carnival
The Brazilian Carnival or in Brazil, like other Catholic Carnival celebrations, is an annual festival held forty-six days before Easter.
Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge proportions. For almost a week festivities are intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities.
The typical genres of music of Brazilian carnival are: samba-enredo and marchinha (in Rio de Janeiro and Southeast Region), frevo, maracatu and Axé music (in Pernambuco, Bahia and Northeast Region)
Cuisine (gastronomy)
Brazilian cuisine varies greatly by region. This diversity reflects the country's history and mix of indigenous and immigrant cultures. This has created a national cooking style, marked by the preservation of regional differences. Since the imperial period, the feijoada, a Portuguese stew with origins in Ancient Rome, has been the country's national dish. Luís da Câmara Cascudo wrote that, having been revised and adapted in each region of the country, it is no longer just a dish, but has become a complete food.CASCUDO, Luís da Câmara. História da Alimentação no Brasil – 2 vols. 2ª ed. Itatitaia, Rio de Janeiro, 1983.
Brazil has a variety of candies including brigadeiros, made with condensed milk, butter, and cocoa powder, and it can have sprinkles of chocolate around, and beijinhos. Other snack foods include coxinhas, churrasco, sfiha, empanadas, and araucaria nuts (in Festa Junina). Pão de queijo are typical in the state of Minas Gerais. Typical northern foods include pato no tucupi, tacacá, caruru, vatapá, and maniçoba. The Northeast is known for moqueca (a stew of seafood and palm oil), acarajé (a fritter made with white beans, onion and fried in palm oil (dendê), which is filled with dried shrimp and red pepper), caruru, and Quibebe. In the Southeast, it is common to eat Bife a cavalo, Bife à parmegiana, Virado, Minas cheese, pizza, tutu, macaroni, lasagna, and codfish pastries. Churrasco is the typical meal of Rio Grande do Sul, and in the South region, it is common to eat polenta, carreteiro rice, chimarrão, cuca, salami, sagu, wine and grape juice. Cachaça is Brazil's native liquor, distilled from sugar cane, and it is the main ingredient in the national drink, the caipirinha. Brazil is the world leader in production of green coffee (café). In 2018, 28% of the coffee consumed globally came from Brazil. Because of Brazil's fertile soil, the country has been a major producer of coffee since the times of Brazilian slavery,"Sabor do Café/História do café ". Visited on November 8, 2009. which created a strong national coffee culture.Museu do Café. Café no Brasil. Visited on November 8, 2009.Gislane e Reinaldo. História (Textbook). Editora Ática, 2009, p. 352 This was satirized in the novelty song "The Coffee Song", sung by Frank Sinatra and with lyrics by Bob Hilliard, interpreted as an analysis of the coffee industry, and of the Brazilian economy and culture.
Literature