Misha Klein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813039879
- eISBN:
- 9780813043784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813039879.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter presents some of the ways that Brazilian Jews intertwine their multiple sources of identity. The “Brazilification” of the Jewish community is evidenced through their embrace of Brazilian ...
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This chapter presents some of the ways that Brazilian Jews intertwine their multiple sources of identity. The “Brazilification” of the Jewish community is evidenced through their embrace of Brazilian racial and ethnic constructs to explain their acceptance within the nation (the myth of Brazil as a “racial democracy”) and Ashkenazi-Sephardi relations (employing interracial metaphors of “mixed” marriages and institutions). The incorporation of Brazilian foodways, including where these appear to contradict Jewish practices, reveals some of the tensions inherent in navigating these contradictory identities that are also evidenced through the particular use of language employed by this community.Less
This chapter presents some of the ways that Brazilian Jews intertwine their multiple sources of identity. The “Brazilification” of the Jewish community is evidenced through their embrace of Brazilian racial and ethnic constructs to explain their acceptance within the nation (the myth of Brazil as a “racial democracy”) and Ashkenazi-Sephardi relations (employing interracial metaphors of “mixed” marriages and institutions). The incorporation of Brazilian foodways, including where these appear to contradict Jewish practices, reveals some of the tensions inherent in navigating these contradictory identities that are also evidenced through the particular use of language employed by this community.
Misha Klein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813039879
- eISBN:
- 9780813043784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813039879.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
The concluding chapter discusses how this exploration of Jewish Brazilian experience is important for understanding both Jewish ethnicity and Brazilian national identity, and the relationship between ...
More
The concluding chapter discusses how this exploration of Jewish Brazilian experience is important for understanding both Jewish ethnicity and Brazilian national identity, and the relationship between national and ethnic identity. An examination of Jewish Brazilian identity further illuminates the complex ways that Brazilianness is a nexus of race, class, and culture. While Jews in São Paulo construct their communities and identities in ways that are consistent with local culture, their condition as transnationals limits the extent to which they can be fully national while maintaining ethnic distinction. Each aspect of their identity informs the other: as Jews and as Brazilians they have a dual identity that cannot be separated.Less
The concluding chapter discusses how this exploration of Jewish Brazilian experience is important for understanding both Jewish ethnicity and Brazilian national identity, and the relationship between national and ethnic identity. An examination of Jewish Brazilian identity further illuminates the complex ways that Brazilianness is a nexus of race, class, and culture. While Jews in São Paulo construct their communities and identities in ways that are consistent with local culture, their condition as transnationals limits the extent to which they can be fully national while maintaining ethnic distinction. Each aspect of their identity informs the other: as Jews and as Brazilians they have a dual identity that cannot be separated.
