“America, the Ugly” redux
I disagree with Mr. Raymond Mataloni’s letter in your March issue. Mr.
Mataloni takes exception to the differences that Ana
Maria Bahiana (author of the book America from A to
Z whose excerpts appeared in the January issue) asserts exist between Latin
Americans and North Americans.
“America, the Ugly” redux
I disagree with Mr. Raymond Mataloni’s letter in your March issue. Mr.
Mataloni takes exception to the differences that Ana
Maria Bahiana (author of the book America from A to
Z whose excerpts appeared in the January issue) asserts exist between Latin
Americans and North Americans.
While I agree that differences in preferences for sports and music are a superficial
method of distinguishing between the two cultures, I found his argument that
Latin Americans and North Americans are more similar than different because
they share the “common thread” of membership in the “new world” naïve and
simplistic.
Yes, North and Latin Americans were discovered at roughly the
same time and clearly represent non-European cultures.
However, non-European culture does not translate to similar cultures. Several historical factors
helped shape the culture (not to mention the structure of politics,
economics, and society) that emerged in Latin America and North America.
North America was actually colonized. Families came over to
settle in the new world. Latin America was colonized not for
settlement but for the purpose of exploitation. Besides, the vast amount of Indians in Latin
America had an impact on Latin American culture
that did not occur in North America (policy of assimilation versus annihilation).
Mariano Magalhães
Iowa City, Iowa
HAPPILY UNHAPPY
I gotta give it to you guys at News from
Brazil. You certainly did handle my request quickly and efficiently. About two months
ago I sent a snail mail letter from Sweden with $6 enclosed. There was also a very nice, cleanly written letter that
clearly stated that I wanted e-mail notification when my subscription was processed. Was my request regarded? Hell no.
I talked to my father in the US and he told me that a couple of issues have been received. Thanks,
so much, for being so efficient and following simple requests. A (dis)satisfied subscriber,
Peter T. Bense
Gullbrandstorp, Sweden
Portuguese, please
Amazing but true. News from Brazil gets better all the time.
Parabéns! You really capture both the tragedy and the joy of
Brazil through reporting on difficult social issues, as well as fun, informative pieces like the article on
choro or the history of Carnaval. I’d like to see more in
Português than just literature. If you’re afraid it might turn off English-only readers, maybe you could do
something bilingual, like the Rapidinhas?
Ellen Winogrond
Oakland, California
Saying thanks with News
I would like to give a gift subscription to Lina
Maldonado, of the University of Miami Latin American Program. Lina and
her right hand Jesse are instrumental in assisting young Brazilian
physicians come to the U.M. and join the world of American style
medicine. They not only help in every little detail, they go further
and become themselves part of an extended family. I think your magazine
would be a welcome monthly addition to their busy small office in the
University of Miami Medical School. Thanks for publishing such a
quality and informative magazine on the current events (which you are
amazingly up to date on) in Brazil… my favorite second country.
Scott Ennis
Miami, Florida
At least you’re cheap
I am a Brazilian living in California for 5 years and
majoring in Computer and Information Sciences. I saw your page on the
Internet and found it neat and easy to navigate. Congratulations! Among
seven or so Brazilian magazines and newspapers, edited in the US, News from Brazil is by far the best one. I really enjoy
reading it. Notwithstanding, I don’t like its covers; always showing
faces. And some articles, with white letters printed on black background
don’t make a perfect combination. But, for the price we
pay for an annual subscription, which is a bargain…
Fernando C. de Oliveira
San Diego, California
How about the address?
I thoroughly enjoyed the article by Daniel Sampler
entitled “Sambaing on Line” (March 1996). However, it would have been
nice if he would have at least once mentioned the address on the World
Wide Web site so readers could check into the site. Or maybe this is
one of those sites where you need the permission of the author to
visit? Either way he should have at least given the address. Keep up
the good work.
R. Buglione
rbuglione@aol.com
Be our guest
I read the article “Sambaing On Line” of
Daniel Sampler, and I liked it very much! Thank you for
publishing it. In our samba school, Império do Papagaio, there’s
a lot of people who are not connected to the WEB, so I came up with this idea of translating the
article in Finnish and publishing it in our magazine
Sambista. Is it OK? Of course, we will mention
the origin of the article, and we will also add a short description of
News from Brazil.
Your readers can check out the WEB version of the latest
issue of our magazine at http://www.eunet.fi/papagaio/ppg/sambista
Jupe – Império do Papagaio
Helsinki, Finland
That was an epitaph
The article on Mamonas Assassinas in the March issue
was great! I’d love to see some more of their song translations in your
next and upcoming issues. I bought the CD recently and your write up
and lyrics helped me appreciate much better what the group is all
about.
I would also like to see in an upcoming issue a list of the top 20 (or 50) Brazilian CDs that you would recommend. With such
a shopping list in hand, I’d be better off than buying Brazilian CDs blindly. You mentioned the Titãs
Cabeça Dinossauro CD as being chosen by
Jornal do Brasil as the best album of the 80s. That’s a good enough endorsement for me, and I look forward to getting
the CD.
