Archive:Mongrel complex
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Expand Portuguese
"Mongrel complex", or alternatively "mutt complex" (Template:Langx), is an expression that refers to a feeling of "collective inferiority complex" reportedly felt by many Brazilians when comparing Brazil and its culture to other parts of the world.
Background
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The term was originally coined by novelist and writer Nelson Rodrigues, initially referring to the trauma suffered by Brazilians in 1950 when the national football team was defeated by Uruguay's national team in the final match of the 1950 World Cup, which was held at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. The estimated 200,000 spectators at the stadium that day were stunned into an eerie silence after the match concluded.[1] Brazil would recover, at least when it comes to football, in 1958, winning the World Cup for the first of five times.[2]
For Rodrigues, the phenomenon was not exclusively related to sport. According to him:[3]
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The expression "mongrel complex" was cited in 2004 by American journalist Larry Rohter. In an article for The New York Times about the Brazilian nuclear program, he wrote:[4]
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Origins
In the 1920s and 1930, many currents of thought clashed concerning the origin of the supposed inferiority. Some, such as Nina Rodrigues, Oliveira Viana, and Monteiro Lobato proclaimed that miscegenation was the root of all evils and that the white race was superior to others.[5]
Others, such as Roquette-Pinto, claimed that the inferiority was a matter of ignorance, rather than miscegenation.[6]
In 1903, Lobato reveals himself to be profoundly pessimistic about the potential of the Brazilian people, by him thus defined:
Brazil, son of inferior parents – destitute of these strongest characters that imprint an unmistakable stamp in certain individuals, such as it happens to the German, the English, grew up sadly – resulting in a worthless kind, incapable of continuing to self develop without the vivifying assistance of the blood of some original race.[7]
Aside from the mixed origin, Brazilians supposedly would suffer from the fact they live in the tropics, where the "hot and humid climate would predispose inhabitants to sloth and lust" (another thesis that was held dear at the time, geographical determinism, alleged that the true civilizations can only develop in temperate climates).
Nevertheless, when Lobato published Template:Ill in 1918, portraying "Template:Ill", the Brazilian elite was starting to favor another explanation of the "backwardness" of the country. With the publication of a series of public health studies ordered by Oswaldo Cruz, then-current poor sanitary conditions at the countryside take place as the main cause of the "lack of vigor" and the "indolence" of the Brazilians. Sanitarism becomes the trend and Lobato himself engages in the effort of converting Brazil into a "big hospital", in the words of physician Template:Ill. This effort peaks in 1924, when Lobato publishes "a história do Jecatatuzinho" ("the story of little Jeca Tatu"), used as an advert for Template:Ill, a traditional nutritional supplement. In the story, after being healed "by science", Jeca Tatu, the titular character, becomes a model citizen and entrepreneur, capable even of surpassing the production of his prosperous neighbor – an Italian immigrant.
Analysis by Vicente Palermo
In La alegría y la pasión: Relatos brasileños y argentinos en perspectiva comparado (2015), Argentine political scientist and essayist Vicente Palermo notes an ambiguity between the Brazilian people's inferiority complex and the optimistic vision of the rulers and wealthier classes.[8]Template:Reference page Citing the sociologist Florestan Fernandes in his analysis, the essayist affirms that the inferiority complex is fading, as a result of social plurality and the gradual decrease in the veiled prejudice that has always existed in Brazilian society.[8]Template:Reference page He also cites the anthropologist and writer Darcy Ribeiro, who attributed to Brazilian society "a cultural syncretism that values mixed-race origin".[8]Template:Reference page Palermo also cites the journalist and filmmaker Arnaldo Jabor.[8]Template:Reference page
Criticism
However, many Brazilian critics and writers have opposed this concept, arguing that the idea of a "complex" often ignores the nuances of cultural and artistic appreciation. Among these critics are names such as Adélia Prado, Augusto de Campos and Hilda Hilst. Each, in their own way, presented arguments that challenge Nelson Rodrigues' view.
See also
- Cultural cringe
- Culture of Brazil
- Malinchism (Another nationalist derogatory term)
- Multiculturalism
- Nationalism
- Chauvinism
References
- ↑ "A Look Back: When Uruguay Shocked Brazil in the 1950 World Cup – World Soccer Talk". 13 May 2014. https://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/05/13/a-look-back-when-uruguay-shocked-brazil-in-the-1950-world-cup/.
- ↑ A pátria em chuteiras de Nélson Rodrigues por Fernando Bandini. Em Com Ciência – SBPC/Labjor. Visited in 16 November 2007.
- ↑ Humberto Mariotti. "O Complexo de Inferioridade do Brasileiro". Instituto de Pesquisa BSP. http://www.revistabsp.com.br/0608/ensaio1.htm.
- ↑ Rohter, Larry (2004-10-31). "If Brazil Wants to Scare the World, It's Succeeding" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/weekinreview/if-brazil-wants-to-scare-the-world-its-succeeding.html.
- ↑ Abreu, Diego Candido (2023). "O Complexo de vira-lata e a Solução Porto Rico:" (in pt). Caletroscópio 11 (2): 10–27. doi:. ISSN 2318-4574. https://periodicos.ufop.br/caletroscopio/article/view/6795.
- ↑ "Pensamento social brasileiro" (in pt-BR). https://www2.anhembi.br/publique/media/pensbra.doc.
- ↑ Lobato, Monteiro (1959). A todo transe. São Paulo: Brasiliense.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Palermo, Vicente (1 December 2015) (in es). La alegría y la pasión: Relatos brasileños y argentinos en perspectiva comparada. Katz Editores. ISBN 978-84-15917-20-5. https://books.google.com.br/books?id=fUv_CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=%22Darcy+Ribeiro%22;+%22Complexo+de+vira-lata%22&source=bl&ots=CJisz-jZlm&sig=OQLEjjytbFzqy9uPCUBB-glXPOM&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiikff00NbZAhWIW5AKHWwgDLY4ChDoAQg5MAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Darcy%20Ribeiro%22;%20%22Complexo%20de%20vira-lata%22&f=false.