EXOTICISM AND CORDIALITY IN THE REPRESENTATION OF THE BRAZILIAN IN DISTANT LANDS.

This article is based on reflections and studies derived from a research trip experience to Paris, France, in which the (supposed) exoticism and Brazilian cordiality were under scrutiny. Carnival, soccer, natural spontaneity, women's eroticism (and exoticism), among other aspects, produce reifying and essentializing images of what is or would be the Brazilian identity. The paper approaches mainly the work of Sergio Buarque de Holanda, "Raízes do Brasil", characterized above all, by the idea of cordiality as the Brazilian contribution to civilization. Would the work of Buarque de Holanda be an example of our "sociology of the non authenticity"? Would Brazil be a country condemned to an imitation or an example of authenticity? These are the types of question that punctuate the debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]