Identity processes

hybridization and racism in Brazilian soap opera

Abstract

This paper discuss he relationship between identity, hybridization and racism in Brazilian soap operas. Thus, we use the identity concepts according to Bauman, Hall and Canclini. Highlighting, the last author also the hybridization conception. According to these authors, the identity is not something pure and immutable; it is a discarded point of view, constituting a mere fiction. There are just identity processes, and these are in a dynamic construction and reconstruction process. In addition, the hybridization idea is directly related to the same issue because the identities are not pure, but they are the result of hybridizations of different cultures and customs. Thus, Brazilian soap operas seem to reinforce a kind of purity of national identity by showing only the white phenotype. In this manner, for those who watch the soap operas (both domestic as foreign viewers) can have a false idea that there is a white majority in Brazil and that we live in a racial democracy. We chose, as methodology to discuss these issues, the Joel Zito Araújo's concepts, which deals specifically with the racism problem, especially in audiovisual products. Based on the mentioned authors, we are going to make an analysis of the hybridization process that is present in the identities construction and reverberates in soap operas in a racist and exclusionary way.