Joyeuses tropiques: Five encounters with alterities in Brazil

Abstract

The paper describes the predicament of Brazilian anthropology through a personal experience of teaching and living in Brasilia. Just like Brasilia, Brazil is many ways considered as "a work in progress" - and Brazilian anthropology as a lively and thriving area, although frequently overlooked by non-Brazilian scholars. The situation in which Brazilian anthropologists find themselves is put in the context of their own history, as well as the particular social conditions of the country - with special reference to Brazil as invention, taking as an example celebration of "500years of Brazil.".