Race and the Brazilian Body: Blackness, Whiteness, and Everyday Language in Rio de Janeiro

245 Pages·2016·2.392 MB·

by  Jennifer Roth-Gordon

Race and the Brazilian Body
Blackness, Whiteness, and Everyday Language
in Rio de Janeiro
jennifer roth-gordon
University of California Press
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Race and the Brazilian Body
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Race and the Brazilian Body
Blackness, Whiteness, and Everyday Language
in Rio de Janeiro
jennifer roth-gordon
University of California Press
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University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by
advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural
sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by
philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more
information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2017 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Roth-Gordon, Jennifer, author.
Title: Race and the Brazilian Body : blackness, whiteness, and everyday
language in Rio de Janeiro / Jennifer Roth-Gordon.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2016031605| isbn 9780520293793 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780520293809 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Blacks—Race identity—Brazil—Rio de Janeiro. |
B razil—Ethnic relations. | Human skin color—Social aspects—
Brazil—Rio de Janeiro. | Blacks—Language—Social aspects—Brazil.
Classification: lcc f2659.n4 r68 2017 | ddc 305.800981—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031605
Manufactured in the United States of America
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For Derek
Thank you for taking this journey with me
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. brazil’s “comfortable racial contradiction” 1
2 . “good” appearances: race, language, and
citizenship 42
3 . investing in whiteness: middle-class
practices of linguistic discipline 69
4 . fears of racial contact: crime, violence, and
the struggle over urban space 95
5 . avoiding blackness: the flip side of
boa aparência 128
6. making the mano: the uncomfortable
visibility of blackness in politically
conscious brazilian hip-hop 161
conclusion: “seeing” race 185
Notes 195
References 203
Index 223
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Acknowledgments
Once upon a time, I set out to study slang in Rio. I am eternally grateful to
my academic mentors at Brown University and Stanford University who set
me on the course of linguistic anthropology and nurtured my passion for
studying language in sociopolitical context: Bill Beeman, Penny Eckert, Jim
Fox, Miyako Inoue, and John Rickford. Penny Eckert consistently set a high
bar, and I wouldn’t be where I am now without her. I have been fortunate to
have received guidance and support from senior colleagues and peers, and I
would like to acknowledge, in particular, H. Samy Alim, Sarah Benor, Mary
Bucholtz, Rudi Gaudio, Perry Gilmore, Lanita Jacobs, Shari Jacobson,
Shoshanna Lurie, Bonnie McElhinny, Janet McIntosh, Jacqui Messing,
Deborah Tannen, Kit Woolard, and Leisy Wyman. My academic interests
evolved to include the study of race, and I thank Matt Guterl for welcoming
me into the world of ethnic studies. I hope our research paths will continue
to converge. I have been honored to have been a part of the Linguistic
Anthropology program at the University of Arizona since 2004, where Jane
Hill, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Susan Philips, and Qing Zhang have all been
incredibly supportive and fun to work with. I also gratefully acknowledge
the support of colleagues Bert Barickman, Ana Maria Carvalho, Mark and
Mimi Nichter, John Olsen, Ivy Pike, and Dani Triadan.
My graduate students have offered semester after semester of inspira-
tion, and I look forward to many years as their colleague and friend. I am
especially grateful to those I worked most closely with: Julie Armin, Micah
Boyer, Joon-Beom Chu, Ufuk Cos¸kun, Mary Good, Lauren Hayes, Parvaneh
Hosseini, Ben McMahan, Melanie Medeiros, Keri Miller, Jessica Nelson,
Dana Osborne, Lucero Radonic, Antonio Bacelar da Silva, Ashley Stinnett,
Angela Storey, and Maisa Taha. My “failed whiteness” reading-writing
group, including Lori Labotka, Sarah Raskin, and Megan Sheehan, helped
ix
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