Editorial Review:

For many foreign observers, Brazil still conjures up a collage of exotic images, ranging from the camp antics of Carmen Miranda to the bronzed girl (or boy) from Ipanema moving sensually over the white sands of Rio's beaches. Among these tropical fantasies is that of the uninhibited and licentious Brazilian homosexual, who expresses uncontrolled sexuality during wild Carnival festivities and is welcomed by a society that accepts fluid sexual identity. However, in Beyond Carnival, the first sweeping cultural history of male homosexuality in Brazil, James Green shatters these exotic myths and replaces them with a complex picture of the social obstacles that confront Brazilian homosexuals.
Ranging from the late nineteenth century to the rise of a politicized gay and lesbian rights movement in the 1970s, Green's study focuses on male homosexual subcultures in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. He uncovers the stories of men coping with arrests and street violence, dealing with family restrictions, and resisting both a hostile medical profession and moralizing influences of the Church. Green also describes how these men have created vibrant subcultures with alternative support networks for maintaining romantic and sexual relationships and for surviving in an intolerant social environment. He then goes on to trace how urban parks, plazas, cinemas, and beaches are appropriated for same-sex erotic encounters, bringing us into the world of street cruising, male hustlers, and cross-dressing prostitutes.
Through his creative use of police and medical records, newspapers, literature, newsletters, and extensive interviews, Green has woven a fascinating history, the first of its kind for Latin America, that will set the standard for future works.
"Green brushes aside outworn cultural assumptions about Brazil's queer life to display its full glory, as well as the troubles which homophobia has sent its way. . . . This latest gem in Chicago's 'World of Desire' series offers a shimmering view of queer Brazilian life throughout the 20th century."--Kirkus Reviews
Winner of the 2000 Lambda Literary Awards' Emerging Scholar Award of the Monette/Horwitz Trust
Winner of the 1999 Hubert Herring Award, Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

Incredible Research Tool:

Anyone working on gender and sexuality in the Latin American context ought to take a look at this comprehensive history...doesn't only assume a social constructionist viewpoint but that of Brazilian scholars as well...check it out!

WOW! Great scholarly work!:

I used this book during my senior thesis as one of my main sources. The way it is put together is excellent! Would highly recommend this book to anyone pursuing studies of homosexuality or eugenics in Latin America.

Best intro to emergence & eflorescence of gay Brazil:

Covering developments between 1890 and 1980, Green's book is the best place to begin to understand the appropriation of public space by gay male Brazilians. Besides seeming to have read everything written by or about male homosexuality in Brazil (his book's apparatus occupies more than a hundred pages), including archived forensic and psychiatric case records, Green draws on seventy life history interviews and a cache of illustrations from across the twentieth century.
Green shows that the gap between... more info

Simply the best:

It's indeed the most important register on brazilian homosexuality ever done. Green is a genius and this book must be read not only by homosexuals, but all kind of people that would like to understand a little about the gay subculture in Brazil. The author is brilliant and deserves our respect.

Similar Products:

Imposing Decency: The Politics of Sexuality and Race in Puerto Rico,... by Eileen J. SuárezFindlay (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Latin America since Independence (Jaguar Books... by Katherine Elaine Bliss (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

In Defense of Honor: Sexual Morality, Modernity, and Nation in... by Sueann Caulfield (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men, and Women in Colombia’s... by Ann Farnsworth-Alvear (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Compromised Positions: Prostitution, Public Health, and Gender Politics in... by Katherine Elaine Bliss (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Peasant and Nation: The Making of Postcolonial Mexico and Peru (A Centennial... by Florencia E. Mallon (Paperback) - Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks

City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900–1931 by Pablo Piccato (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture by Eric Zolov (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours

Sexuality and Marriage in Colonial Latin America (Latin American Studies) from University of Nebraska Press (Paperback) - Usually ships in 24 hours