This is the first English-language translation of the culmination of the life work of Darcy Ribeiro, one of Brazil's leading twentieth-century intellectuals, known internationally both for his work in Indian affairs and for his political activism. First published as O Povo Brasileiro in 1995, two years before Ribeiro's death, it quickly became a controversial best-seller.
Offering a sweeping overview of the ethnic, racial, and social forces that shape Brazilian culture and society, the book presents no less than an aesthetic of the Brazilian people as a whole. While Ribeiro dwells on the paradox of Brazil as a country of immense potential hindered by racial and class prejudice, he also says it is "the most beautiful and luminous province on earth".
Elegantly translated by the acclaimed Gregory Rabassa, this work does justice to Ribeiro's original Portuguese text, with all its idiosyncrasies, intrinsic poetry, epic hyperbole, and departures from contemporary U.S. norms of political correctness. It will be of immense significance to all those interested in Latin American culture, anthropology, sociology, and history as well as in the theory of culture.