terça-feira, 21 de fevereiro de 2017
Interlúdio (36)
Most Brazilians, who have any opinion at all, and we are talking about educated people living in cities with access to internet and who read, still consider Portugal to be a rather old-fashioned, traditional, mono-cultural people with an unintelligible way of speaking. Few Brazilian are aware of the state of the art expressways, the advanced telephone and internet system, the gigantic hypermarkets and shopping centers etc. Portugal underwent a radical transformation in the nineties with EU money and left Brazil behind in many ways.
As far as the Portuguese jokes are concerned, my theory is that they are based on the typical Portuguese immigrant who arrived in the fifties and sixties from Tras-os-Montes, who was usually illiterate, had a moustache (often men and women), dressed poorly in sombre colours, often wore tamancos (wooden clogs), had poor personal hygiene, and worked in lowly professions such as itinerant vendor, butcher, barkeeper, or baker. They stood out in Brazil and were often laughed at until soon many of them became quite rich, having saved and saved, often sleeping on boards in their shops. Soon they were the bosses and the natives were their employees.
One aspect of the Portuguese I noticed coming from Brazil was their literal-mindedness and their inability to think outside the box. My first shock was how Brazilian humor fell flat on the listeners. There was little awareness of language play or criticism of the powers that be. There was, and there still is, a reverence for power and those who have a degree. Someone who has finished university is called a Doctor, and not doing so might even cause serious problems for the interlocutor. Even a politician like José Sócrates, indicted for corruption and sitting in a jail cell, is called Sr. Engineer, even though his degree was fraudulently obtained.
A final point to be mentioned to show the cultural differences is the Portuguese negativity. The Portuguese complain a lot, usually doing nothing about it. While a Brazilian will respond to the question "Como vai"? with "Tudo bem" or "Muito bem" a typical Portuguese response is "Vou andando" (lit. I am walking). Common expressions are "É a vida" and "Tem que ser". There is a fatalism reflected in the language. That you do not see in Brazil.
segunda-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2017
Interlúdio (35)
Dos escribas
Andava eu aqui às voltas tentando escrever qualquer coisa naquela de dizer que estou vivo e não me saía, não sai, nada de interessante. Lembrei-me do inefável Camilo Castelo Branco que recebeu muitas vezes adiantado dos editores sob promessa de entregar os escritos em data marcada, compromissos reiteradamente falhados por falta de inspiração. Assaltou-me, simultaneamente uma pena genuína dos escribas dos jornais que regularmente têm de apresentar trabalho que se veja; mas tal é a pressão e a auto-censura que o resultado está à vista. As notícias ou são do tipo tablóide, sensacionalistas e exageradas, ou são do tipo expresso que dá para passar pelas brasas aos sábados à tarde. Não havendo nada mais de escrito a acrescentar, deixo aqui uma marca de arte fotográfica pobre mas personalizada. Vejam só como a sombra se pode sobrepor em importância ao objecto subjacente e como pelo comprimento desta se pode saber a altura do sol. Áh! Se houver sol. Pois.
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