Brazilian culture

The Brazilian Culture it is the result of the miscegenation of different ethnic groups that participated in the formation of the Brazilian population.

The prevailing cultural diversity in Brazil is also a consequence of the large territorial extension and the characteristics generated in each region of the country.

The white individual, who participated in the formation of Brazilian culture, was part of several groups that arrived in the country during the colonial period.

In addition to the Portuguese, came the Spaniards, from 1580 to 1640, during the Iberian Union (period in which Portugal was under Spanish rule).

During the Dutch occupation in the northeast, from 1630 to 1654, Flemish or Dutch came, who stayed in the country, even after the retaking of the area by the Portuguese. In the colony, the French, English and Italians also arrived.

However, it was from the Portuguese that we received our fundamental cultural heritage, where the history of Portuguese immigration in Brazil is intertwined with our own history.

It was they, the colonizers, who were responsible for the initial formation of the Brazilian population. This resulted from the process of miscegenation with Indians and black Africans, from 1500 to 1808. For three centuries, the Portuguese were the only Europeans who could freely enter Brazil.

To learn more:

• Brazilian population
• Cultural Diversity
• Cultural diversity in Brazil
• Immigration from Brazil
• Popular Culture

The Formation of Brazilian Culture

The formation of Brazilian culture resulted from the integration of elements fromindigenous cultures , fromPortuguese colonizer , from African Negro , as well as the various immigrants.

Indigenous Culture

The Brazilian Indians made many contributions to our cultural and social formation. From an ethnic point of view, they contributed to the emergence of a typically Brazilian individual:the caboclo (white and Indian mestizo).

In the cultural formation, the Indians contributed with the vocabulary , which has numerous terms of indigenous origin, such as Pindorama, Anhanguera, Ibirapitanga, Itamaracá, among others. With the folklore, legends such as the curupira, the saci-pererê, the boitatá, the iara, among others, remained.

The influence on cooking became more present in certain regions of the country where some indigenous groups managed to take root. An example is the northern region, where typical dishes are present, including tucupi, tacacá and maniçoba.

Roots such as cassava are used to prepare flour, tapioca and beiju. Miscellaneoushunting and fishing tools , such as the trap and the puçá. Finally, several household items , were left as an inheritance, among them, the net, the gourd and the trough.

To learn more:

• Brazilian Indians
• Indigenous Culture
• Indian Day

Portuguese Culture

Portugal was the European country that exerted more influence in the formation of Brazilian culture.

The Portuguese carried out a cultural transplant to the colony, highlighting the Portuguese language , spoken throughout the country, and the religion marked by parties and processions.

Administrative institutions, the type of construction in villages, towns and cities and agriculture are part of the Portuguese heritage.

In folklore Brazilian it is evident the large number of Portuguese festivals and dances that were incorporated into the country. Among them, the cavalhada, the fandango, the June festivals (one of the main cultural festivals in the northeast) and the bull party.

The legends of folklore (the cuca and the bogeyman), the nursery rhymes (live fish, the carnation and the rose, spinning top, etc.) remain alive in Brazilian culture.

If you want to know more about the country's folklore:Brazilian Folklore.

African Culture

The African Negro was brought to Brazil to be used as slave labor. According to the cultures they represented (religious rites, dialects, uses and customs, physical characteristics, etc.) they formed three main groups, which presented marked differences:the Sudanese , the Bantos and the Male . (Islamized Sudanese).

Salvador, in the northeast of Brazil, was the city that received the largest number of blacks, and where several cultural elements survive.

Examples are the “baiana costume ”, with turban, lace skirts, bracelets, necklaces, capoeira and music instruments such as the tambor, atabaque, cuíca, berimbau and afoxé.

In general, the cultural contribution of blacks was great:

On power , vatapá, acarajé, acaçá, cocada, pé de moleque etc;

In the dances (quilombos, maracatus and aspects of Bumba meu boi)

In religious manifestations (candomblé in Bahia, macumba in Rio de Janeiro and xangô in some northeastern states).

To learn more, also read the articles:

• African Culture
• Northeast Culture
• Main Features of Afro-Brazilian Culture
• Samba
• Afoxé

Immigrant Culture

Theimmigrants made important contributions to Brazilian culture. The history of immigration in Brazil began in 1808, with the opening of ports to friendly nations, made by D. João.

Portuguese, Azorean, Swiss, Prussian, Spanish, Syrian, Lebanese, Polish, Ukrainian and Japanese families came to populate the territory, who settled in Rio Grande do Sul.

The big highlight were theItalians and the Germans , which arrived in large numbers. They were concentrated in the south and southeast of the country, leaving important marks of their cultures, mainly in the architecture , in the language , in cooking , at parties regional and folk.

The wine culture of southern Brazil is mainly concentrated in the region of the Serra Gaúcha and Campanha, where Italian and German descendants predominate.

In the city of São Paulo, the great flow of Italians gave rise to neighborhoods such as Bom Retiro, Brás, Bexiga and Barra Funda, where the presence of Italians is remarkable. With them came the typical pasta like pasta, pizza, lasagna, cannelloni, among others.

To learn more:

• South Region Culture
• Questions about culture
• Cultural Heritage