Arch Sex Behav DOI 10.1007/s10508-007-9183-2
BOOK REVIEW
Raza˜o, ‘‘Cor’’ e Desejo: Uma Ana´lise Comparativa sobre Relacionamentos Afetivo-Sexuais inter-raciais no Brasil ´ frica do Sul e na A By Laura Moutinho, UNESP, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil, 2004, 450 pp., R$48.00. Alain Giami
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007 This book, whose title in English is Reason, Color and Desire: A Comparative Analysis on Inter-racial AffectiveSexual Relationships in Brazil and South Africa, is the publication of Moutinho’s thesis in social anthropology, presented in 2001 at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, under the direction of the anthropologist, Peter Fry, who signed its preface. It is an innovative project, designed to cultivate an understanding of the marital and sexual relationships between people of different ‘‘colors’’ or of different ‘‘races’’ in Brazil (and, more precisely, in Rio de Janeiro). Let me initially note that, in an attempt to avoid misunderstanding, Moutinho consistently and systematically uses quotation marks when discussing ‘‘race’’ or ‘‘color’’ because these terms are located and used among the people from the field and, therefore, do not characterize the theory (‘‘money of the mind,’’ as Hegel would say) of Moutinho; nor do they correspond to the concepts that she uses. Moutinho adopts a multidisciplinary perspective, constructing her research project from the collection and analysis of established data taken from demographics, anthropological and sociological literature, Brazilian fiction literature, and from field research in Rio de Janeiro. In an attempt to better understand Brazilian ‘‘inter-racial relationships,’’ Moutinho also initiated her own research project in Cape Town (Republic of South Africa). According to Moutinho, displacement in South Africa offers a way to ‘‘distance’’ oneself (in a Brechtian sense, meaning to render strange that which is familiar) and to alter a person’s view of the social and symbolic reality of Brazil. A. Giami (&) Inserm, U822, Le Kremlin Biceˆtre, F-94276, France e-mail:
[email protected]
As she highlights in the text, Moutinho is quite conscious of the fact that she did not undergo a comprehensive field study in South Africa. Instead, she initiated an exploratory study founded on a collection of cultural and legal documents and informal interviews, and on personal navigation of ‘‘multi-racial’’ bars in Cape Town. The result of this comparison is presented, clearly and concisely, in the concluding words of the book: ‘‘‘Interracial’ sexual desire constitutes a central component of national identity in the two countries: in Brazil because it is in practice and in South Africa because it is negated.’’ This quote also identifies the project’s goals: to show how ‘‘interracial’’ relations are at the heart of the construction of national identity, and how the question of ‘‘crossbreeding’’ is posed and resolved in these two countries but in completely different ways. We are undoubtedly at the very core of a biopolitical examination (in Foucault’s terms). This book analyzes the different dimensions of social, affective, and sexual reasoning that govern relationships between ‘‘blacks’’ and ‘‘whites,’’ but also examines the value and social representations of ‘‘race,’’ ‘‘crossbreeding,’’ gender, prestige, and eroticism. The anthropological and sociological literature has shown little interest in this subject over the last 20 years, and the Brazilian situation, compared to the United States, remains globally perceived as an ‘‘inter-racial’’ paradise. Moreover, these relations remain dominated by the idea that the majority of them concern ‘‘white men’’ and ‘‘black or mulatto women.’’ Moutinho will deconstruct the origins of this myth, and will use data from different sources to compare it to the real situation in Brazil. In the first chapter, Moutinho presents and analyzes census and demographic data collected by Berquo’s team, who identified a demographic surplus of ‘‘pardos’’ (people
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of mixed race) and a predominance of unions between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women’’ over the last 20 years. However, demographic characteristics, including the surplus of ‘‘black men,’’ do not fully explain the situation in Brazil. One must explore their social significance, social representation, and social worth to understand this issue. With this idea, Moutinho initiates an exploration of historical Brazilian mentality that unveils the myths and repressed beliefs of Brazilian culture. In the second chapter, Moutinho revisits classic anthropological literature from Brazil. Here, she reminds the reader that Count Gobineau, the author of the famous essay, ‘‘On the Disparity of the Races of Man’’ (published in 1853), was ambassador of France during the reign of Pedro II. Moutinho highlights the fundamental role Gobineau played during the genesis of racism in classic Brazilian literature. Indeed, Gobineau had expressed disapproval of racial and ethnic crossbreeding and had predicted the disappearance of the Brazilian population in the subsequent 270 years. We know the results! The authors presented and discussed by Moutinho (Nina Rodrigues, Oliviera Vianna, Paulo Prado, or Gilbert Freyre) offer complex interpretations of crossbreeding, overall recognizing its reality and necessity for Brazil, while further placing the accent on relations between ‘‘white men’’ and ‘‘women of color’’ and insisting on the civilizing effects of this type of crossbreeding. Consequently, the responsibility for this positive transformation falls on ‘‘white men,’’ members of the wealthiest social class. Authors like Gilberto Freye, who expanded on the concept of ‘‘polygamous patriarchy,’’ construct unions of ‘‘white men’’ with ‘‘black and mulatto women’’ as a method of ‘‘whitening’’ the Brazilian nation. From this perspective, the ‘‘black man’’ is represented as a menace to the purity of the ‘‘white woman’’ and, more globally, to the ‘‘white race’’ in its entirety. With this model, relations between ‘‘white men’’ and ‘‘black or mulatto women’’ appear as a legacy and as an emblem of the colonial period. In the third chapter, Moutinho analyzes literary texts from the 19th and 20th centuries, and uses a structural analysis of these texts to highlight the appearance of marriage between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women.’’ No longer dealing (only) with eroticism, these unions signify conjugal recognition and social ascension. Here, the literature exposes the taboo surrounding relationships between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women.’’ Moutinho proceeds by decrypting and deconstructing the complexities of different systematic relationships and domination based on gender and social class in addition to ‘‘race’’ and ‘‘color.’’ As a result, the social-sexual relationships become the crystallizing moment of these different dimensions. In the fourth chapter, Moutinho revisits the sociology of ‘‘inter-racial relations’’ in Brazil. Here, she distinguishes between different processes, most notably between the logic
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of gender as it relates to the logic of ‘‘race.’’ Further, she proposes that ‘‘inter-racial’’ relations are practically and symbolically shaped by eroticism and social mobility, an idea that is central to her theoretical argument. In this dynamic, relations between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women’’ appear as a form of repressed taboo, hidden behind the erotic relations between ‘‘white men’’ and ‘‘black or mulatto women.’’ These taboo relations are labeled adultery or prostitution. Inversely, relations between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women’’ are constructed as conjugal and reproductive, representing the principal vector of social ascension for ‘‘black men’’ and, one can say, of the ‘‘racial ascension’’ or whitening of their future progeny. In the fifth chapter, Moutinho presents her field research from Rio de Janeiro. This project aimed to surpass demographic data, to fill the gaps of existing social-anthropological research that had not explored the theme of ‘‘color’’ in the context of sexual relations since 1975. The study’s objective was, therefore, to discover the value, the experience, and the significance of these relations, using formal and informal interviews with Cariocas, who had been included in the study because they were known to be in ‘‘inter-racial relationships.’’ The research findings are then reframed using anthropological theories, particularly those of Sahlins. Moutinho introduces the complex game of ‘‘race’’ and gender by constructing an explicative model in which the ‘‘white man’’ is opposed to the ‘‘black man,’’ and is constructed as erotically superior. The ‘‘white woman’’ regains erotic value by displacing the position of ‘‘mother’’ attributed to her by the ‘‘white man,’’ who is more sexually attracted to ‘‘black and mulatto women.’’ In the sixth chapter, Moutinho discusses her journey to Cape Town, where ‘‘inter-racial relations’’ exist in another context entirely. Firstly, they were considered to be criminal acts under Apartheid law; and further, in contrast to Brazil, the most visible relations were between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women.’’ This interdiction implicitly works to protect the ‘‘purity’’ of the ‘‘white woman.’’ Therefore, by protecting the ‘‘purity’’ of ‘‘white women,’’ Afrikaner men place themselves in a superior position compared to ‘‘white women’’ and to ‘‘black men.’’ The prohibition of sexual relations and of conjugal a fortiori between ‘‘whites’’ and ‘‘blacks’’ was announced in 1949. The South African sociologists discussed in the text consider this prohibition to be fundamental to Apartheid politics, which were founded on the idea of separate development for both groups. A comparison between these two situations helps to understand the different value placed on ‘‘inter-racial relations’’ according to the gender of the protagonists. On one side, relations between ‘‘white men’’ and ‘‘black women’’ in Brazil are more visible (and are more ideologically acceptable in that they contribute to the maintenance and reinforcement of the ideal of crossbreeding and social
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domination); and, on the other side, relations between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women’’ in Brazil are more frequent and less visible, and, according to Moutinho, constitute the ‘‘taboo’’ that categorizes these relationships. In South Africa, relations between ‘‘black men’’ and ‘‘white women’’ are simultaneously the most visible and constitute the principal subjects of social reprobation. However, a review of criminal archives informs that the preponderance of the carnal relations are between ‘‘white men’’ and ‘‘black women’’ or ‘‘women of color.’’ Therefore, the taboo does not apply to similar situations in the same manner. This study demonstrated exemplary ability to successfully link different analytical sources (demographic data,
literary and scientific documents, criminal archives, and formal and informal interviews) that are systematically critiqued using existing theories. We can only criticize Moutinho for having ignored the place, the function, and the significance of ‘‘indigenous populations’’ or of Indians inhabiting northern and southern Brazil. One can then speculate if these populations have specific, erotic characteristics and how they contributed to the process of physical and symbolic crossbreeding in Brazil. That, however, will be the focus of another book. Acknowledgment I would like to thank Todd Sekuler for help in translating my review from French to English.
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