Brasil no Divã
Se considerarmos o País um doente cujo sintoma é a corrupção, qual seria então a origem de sua doença? A psicologia explica.
Notícias sobre corrupção há anos tem atormentado a vida dos brasileiros. Como parte da nossa rotina, é um fenômeno complexo, uma sombra endêmica e enraizada na cultura a qual, para sua compreensão, exige um estudo multidisciplinar.
Dentro desse enfoque, poderíamos perguntar quais os fatores psicológicos que poderiam propiciar esse tipo de comportamento, não dos grandes corruptos, mas referente a pequenas corrupções tão frequentes em nosso cotidiano, perpetradas não por bandidos, mas pelo cidadão comum. Se considerarmos o Brasil um doente cujo sintoma é a corrupção, qual seria então a origem de sua doença?
Inúmeras pesquisas revelam a existência de um sentimento profundo de menosprezo e abjeção do brasileiro em relação a sua identidade nacional, como expressão de um complexo de inferioridade cultural. As consequências deletérias desse complexo são refletidas em várias áreas, dentre elas na perpetuação de desigualdades sociais, no caráter excludente da estratificação social e nas questões éticas.
Na busca do conflito original, que estaria no cerne desse complexo de inferioridade, destacamos os principais fatores presentes na formação do país: mito de origem, projeções estrangeiras, escravidão e colonização.
Como em toda neurose, o trauma do nascimento repete-se compulsivamente em vários tipos de patologia. Assim observamos que o mito fundante edênico do Brasil colabora para o estabelecimento de um sentimento de inferioridade desde os primórdios, uma vez que o único valor atribuído às novas terras e seus habitantes paira em torno da sensualidade, da atratividade carnal e das riquezas da natureza. Inúmeras projeções de estrangeiros, desde o século 16 até o presente, confirmam essa imagem. E o pior é que o brasileiro, na busca de uma identificação positiva, assimila a projeção, a incorpora como sua e a reproduz. Repete-se, assim, um mecanismo neurótico na tentativa de se achar uma solução para esse dilema.
A esse fator, acresce a estruturação dos arquétipos parentais, onde temos a imagem de um pai europeu, que tem como únicos objetivos a exploração e o enriquecimento rápidos. Fascinado pela nudez das indígenas, o europeu reprimido abusa da ingenuidade da população. A mãe índia dá a luz a uma criança bastarda que é abandonada pelo pai e rejeitada pela tribo materna. A imagem do mestiço como filho de um pai abusivo tem seus reflexos mais evidentes no preconceito e na contundente estratificação social vigente.
Portanto, a incapacidade de se basear nas figuras parentais, para se criar um ideal de desenvolvimento, gera vergonha e mantém engessadas as articulações de um nacionalismo saudável. Tanto a vergonha quanto o desamparo indicam aqui outro sintoma do mesmo complexo de inferioridade. Alguns fogem da vergonha incorporando e reproduzindo o pai-bandido, assumindo uma persona bravata do tipo “comigo ninguém pode”, nem mesmo a lei. Reproduzindo inconscientemente o comportamento exploratório paterno, usa-se a terra de modo predatório. O objetivo é “tirar vantagem”, criando uma falsa superioridade.
Os discursos moralistas são engolidos pelo complexo paterno negativo e, portanto, são ineficientes. A busca de uma saída para esse impasse também é dificultada pela ausência do mito do herói, como precursor do desenvolvimento egóico e do processo de individuação. Numa cultura patriarcal, ele contesta o pai e impõe novos valores conquistados por próprio esforço. Mas, como contestar um pai abandonador que não reconhece o filho? Diferentemente do colonizador inglês, respeitado pelos norte-americanos, o pai português é motivo de escárnio. Ao ridicularizá-lo, o brasileiro sente-se superior e ao mesmo tempo nega qualquer possibilidade de tomá-lo como modelo. O afeto ausente no pai é procurado em figuras de líderes políticos autoritários e corruptos, mas que através de seu “protecionismo afetuoso” inibem a queixa de um possível denunciante.
Como reclamar daquele que abusa do poder, mas estende a mão e protege? A história é plena de exemplos de como regimes ditatoriais preencheram a lacuna do pai ausente. A opção pela democracia e pela igualdade engendrada pela razão é difícil de ser mantida num povo carente de identidade parental. A criança abandonada tem irmãos abandonados e recorre à malandragem para enredar conluios que lesam o pai, projetado na lei. O complexo de inferioridade aqui ativa também a polaridade negativa do puer aeternus (arquétipo da criança eterna) e cria a imagem de um país eternamente jovem, cheio de riquezas e belezas tropicais. A ilusão do puer é de que amanhã será magicamente melhor do que hoje.
A falsa impossibilidade de realização no presente é compensada por fantasias de grandiosidade e comportamentos espúrios. O filho bastardo, ilegítimo, reproduz a ilegitimidade pela oscilação entre baixa autoestima e fantasias maníacas, expressas na grandiosidade de gigantescas festas carnavalescas, por exemplo. Assim, cria-se um círculo vicioso, onde a impossibilidade de realização das fantasias megalomaníacas faz crescer o sentimento de inferioridade, favorecendo a baixa autoestima.
Sem a consciência dos fatores inconscientes que geram essa patologia, os esforços públicos e privados terão um efeito somente repressor, e, portanto, serão temporários. Uma verdadeira mudança só ocorrerá com o enfrentamento doloroso do conflito inicial e com o suportar consciente da tensão entre as polaridades inferioridade/superioridade.
Dessa forma, a assimilação consciente do conflito original, não é somente um sofrimento, mas é o caminho da cura, à medida que pode permitir a liberação de grande energia e a constelação de novas forças na consciência coletiva brasileira. Com a autoestima resgatada, não haverá lugar para a corrupção como patologia da cultura. Ela ficará restrita somente ao conflito consciente entre o bem e o mal. Mas, isso já é outra história.
‘Trauma’. Bases históricas de nossa formação conduzem ao complexo de inferioridade Foto: VICTOR MEIRELLES DE LIMA (1832-1903)|REPRODUÇÃO
Rir é Sinal de Saúde
Mal humorados e desanimados, entramos em mais um ano com perspectivas negativas tanto no plano econômico quanto político e social.
Como nos proteger de previsões pessimistas, provocadores de pensamentos negativos e deprimentes?
Pesquisas mostram que senso de humor é uma excelente proteção contra um ambiente negativo e destrutivo. Senso de humor é o melhor caminho para atravessarmos os tempos difíceis que enfrentamos.
A palavra “humor” vem do latim “humore” e significa algo que flui, que se movimenta internamente. Tem a ver com disposições, impulsos e reações emocionais, geralmente sem consciência.
Quantas vezes não somos pegos num humor insuportável, sem termos a menor noção do porque desse estado? O mau humor, em geral, é maior do que nossa consciência. Nos pega de tal jeito que não conseguimos nos livrar facilmente dele.
Aqui está presente um conteúdo inconsciente, geralmente jogado sobre o vizinho mais próximo, parente, cachorro e companhia.
Por outro lado, “senso” refere-se à habilidade de apreciar ou compreender um fato. Nesse caso, a consciência tem de estar presente. Sem consciência não há “senso de humor”. Desse modo, senso de humor refere-se à capacidade de apreciar conscientemente uma situação estabelecendo certa distância do mundo. Uma distância que nos permite parecer não estar levando muito a sério aquilo que internamente levamos (mesmo escondendo) muito a sério.
Sem a devida distância em relação a um fato perturbador, corremos o risco de nos tornarmos presos a uma situação sem saída. De outro lado, se a distância necessária é mantida, toda a tensão nos gestos e atitudes pode dar lugar a um sorriso.
A importância do senso de humor está no fato de ele nos proteger da vaidade e do orgulho excessivos. Mesmo a maior vitória ou a maior derrota com humor tornam-se relativas, dando-nos a correta dimensão de um fato. Senso de humor sempre nasce do senso de proporção. Vemos em grandes poetas, escritores, cientistas e filósofos esse senso de humor que brilha mesmo quando falam de tragédias e desgraças.
O riso cura humilhações, exigências inúteis, vaidades feridas, ressentimentos e raivas há anos curtidos. Relativiza a importância de nossos feitos, de nossas graças e desgraças. Desincha o ego inflado e enche o ego murchado. Senso de humor funciona como um espelho, dando a importância real de nossos feitos grandiosos ou vergonhosos. Estudos sobre humor têm mostrado que as piadas mais engraçadas são aquelas com as quais o público se identifica com o personagem. Isto é, piadas sobre nós mesmos. Mesmo o humor negro que realça, com amargura e crueldade, os absurdos da vida, é melhor do que o excesso melodramático novelesco.
Rir é sinal de saúde. Pessoas mentalmente perturbadas, doentes mentais não têm senso de humor. Aqui se incluem também os poderosos e falsos profetas, geralmente aprisionados num tipo de falsa grandiosidade. Presunçosos levam tudo extremamente a sério, inclusive sua própria importância. O bom humor, especialmente quando compartilhado, tem uma dimensão social importante: nos livra do medo do ataque e aumenta a tolerância para com os diferentes conflitos. Com bom humor criamos novas soluções, modificamos o ambiente e influenciamos mais gente.
Somos mais preparados para viver quando recuperamos nossa habilidade de nos divertirmos. A expectativa de fazer algo bom é também essencial e causa de grande prazer. Pois envolve a esperança, que é um sentimento de expansão. Pesquisas com pessoas saudáveis de mais de 80 anos revelam que elas estão sempre esperando por algo muito agradável, cheias de planos para novas realizações. Ter expectativas positivas é tão necessário para o organismo como comer bem e se exercitar.
Entrevista para o Jornal Estado de São Paulo
País que precisa de um guia, não cria identidade.
O JORNAL O ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO conversou com a Dra. Denise Gimenez Ramos, titular de Psicologia da PUC paulista, sobre a desilusão da esquerda com o enfraquecimento de Lula e diz que o amplo debate atual aponta para a salvação de um Brasil que nunca discutiu a sério as suas causas.
A política é um escândalo atrás do outro, a economia se desmanchou, a insatisfação é geral. Mas é nesse cenário, que tanta gente considera o pior das últimas décadas, que a psicanalista Denise Ramos acende a sua lanterna: “Estamos passando por um processo profundo de desilusão que vai ser a nossa salvação”.
Titular de Psicologia da PUC paulista, com os olhos voltados para patologias sociais como preconceito e corrupção, a professora acaba de voltar de Chicago. Viu ali, bem de perto, a entusiasmada adesão de milhões de eleitores ao que chama de “poder sombrio do líder carismático”, no caso o candidato republicano Donald Trump. E faz um paralelo com outro líder carismático que vive uma situação inversa – o ex-presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
O que ela chama de “salvação” é o processo em que o cidadão começa a se libertar dessa ideia, a perceber que guias e salvadores não são o melhor caminho para formar um País. “É preciso acabar com essa dependência de um líder, para que o País amadureça e estabeleça sua identidade como nação”, diz a psicanalista. Nesta entrevista a Gabriel Manzano,em seu consultório em Perdizes, ela afirma: “Tem de ir mais fundo na crise, jogar as cinzas fora, pra que nada reste delas. Fazer surgir o novo, sem o velho”.
A seguir, os principais trechos da conversa.
Muita gente vê, nos graves problemas hoje vividos pelo Brasil, o fracasso de um líder carismático – o ex-presidente Lula. Ele próprio já falou a respeito. O que isso significa na cabeça dos eleitores que o apoiaram desde sempre?
O líder carismático tem um poder enorme, seja para o bem ou para o mal. Ele pode construir ou destruir uma nação. Em geral, quando ele falha há uma grande resistência emocional a aceitar essa derrota, a entrar no sofrimento da desilusão, pois é doloroso.
Por que é tão difícil admitir e buscar outras soluções?
Porque o papel desse líder, para seus fiéis, é o de um guia e salvador. É preciso entender como se da a atração de um cidadão por um líder carismático. Fala-se tanto de ideias, posições e raciocínios, mas o fator decisivo, quando alguém escolhe um partido ou um político, é a emoção. O que determina a escolha é uma identificação dele com seu escolhido. Ele projeta no outro algo que tem dentro de si que é precioso e que o líder vai levar adiante.
Onde ficam a lógica, a razão, as provas objetivas?
Em plano secundário. O que está em jogo é uma afirmação de identidade. Tem mais. O líder joga com imagens, e imagens são uma arma poderosa. E o pior é que, com frequência, líderes carismáticos são excludentes: “Se você não está comigo, está contra mim”, ele impõe. Ao criar esse antagonismo, dispensando o diálogo, conduz ao fanatismo. E o fanatismo, já dizia (o psiquiatra suíço) Carl Jung, “é sempre sinal de uma dúvida reprimida”.
O que isso quer dizer?
Que, como a dúvida gera sofrimento e desconforto, eu me defendo fortalecendo ainda mais a minha crença.
No caso de Lula e Trump, cabe fazer algum paralelo?
Há muito em comum entre eles. O discurso de Trump é puramente emocional, não encadeia fatos, ele vai também só nas imagens, como Lula. No mesmo tom de “não há ninguém mais honesto que eu”, o discurso de Trump é que os EUA precisam ser fortes, que o Obama é fraco, que os islâmicos têm de ser expulsos, que tem de fazer um muro contra os mexicanos… Pouco lhe importa se é justo, se é necessário, se tem lógica… Mas que fique claro: nesse sentido, toda a humanidade é igual. A emoção é a grande condutora das fidelidades.
Há muita gente bem formada e informada no topo da vida cultural e científica apoiando a causa que é representada, de modo geral, por Lula. Gente que teria como escapar de truques emocionais. Como explicaria isso?
De fato. O que me parece é que também não querem sofrer a desilusão. Pelo visto, os dados da realidade não são suficientes para mudar uma ideia, uma vez que ela corresponde ao que a pessoa é, no seu mais profundo. Grandes nomes da cultura, em outros momentos e países, também permaneceram fiéis aos seus guias, não é só aqui e só agora. No caso de Lula, pode-se dizer, por enquanto, que “é só uma fase” e que ele não saiu de cena. Ele é um líder poderoso que no momento está afastado. Acredito que o poder dele continua forte. O que cabe advertir é que, embora haja à nossa volta muita gente que decide dispensar os serviços de um guia – veja as manifestações de rua, em que líderes de todos os partidos foram vaiados – a sensação de orfandade persiste e esse é um problema grave da nação. Mas entendo que esta é uma oportunidade para revermos a situação do País, parar de fantasias, sofrer a nossa história.
O que é sofrer nossa história?
É entender que o brasileiro, como povo, está mergulhado nesse sério complexo de inferioridade e precisa superá-lo.
Como é esse complexo?
É uma percepção funda, que vem das origens do País. Vieram nos colonizar e extrair nossas riquezas. Jamais se pensou – à parte alguns heróis aqui e ali – em um projeto de nação. Compare com os founding fathers, os pioneiros americanos, armados de disciplina e ética protestante, que cruzaram o mar justamente para, do lado de lá, criar uma nação. Eles tinham uma meta e uma direção. Aqui nunca tivemos isso. O que o brasileiro tem feito, historicamente, é tentar identificar-se com o americano ou com o europeu. Ele tem vergonha de ser brasileiro. Se não fizermos uma séria revisão de nossa origem, não formaremos um País sério. E isso começa afastando-se a ideia de que precisamos de um guia, qualquer guia, que nos aponte o caminho. É tarefa da coletividade. Mas o Brasil tem suas qualidades e vitórias. Dou-lhe um exemplo que acho histórico e bem recente, aqueles 7 a 1 sofridos diante da Alemanha na Copa do Mundo. Conversei sobre isso com amigos nesse país. Estamos elaborando um texto sobre aquele episódio. O trauma já era evidente antes do jogo. Os brasileiros estavam cabisbaixos, paralisados em campo, rezando. Os alemães entraram tranquilos, seguros. Dava para adivinhar o que ia acontecer.
Qual o caminho, enfim, para se formar essa identidade?
Bem, podemos perguntar: o que é a identidade brasileira? Lá fora, eles pensam logo em carnaval e praia. E quando vai para lá um intelectual trabalhar, conversar, muitas vezes eles se surpreendem com a qualidade do cientista e do que ele faz. Mas deixemos de lado o meio acadêmico. Veja como são bons, criativos, os artistas das escolas de samba, criando do nada seus carros, alegorias e fantasias que encantam gente do mundo inteiro. Mas se você vai ver onde mora esse artista tão criativo e competente, é um barraco caindo aos pedaços. E nem sempre é problema econômico, é que ele não liga, não se valoriza. Não exerce seu poder em causa própria. Sua arte não é incorporada como um valor e o que se constata é uma espécie de autodesprezo.
Como lutar por uma identidade nacional num ambiente como o atual, em que as relações sociais estão conturbadas – pela falência da política, pela intolerância nas redes sociais e nas ruas, pelos casos de violência e de estupro, por uma epidemia de corrupção gigantesca?
Acredito, na contramão disso tudo, que essa é justamente a nossa salvação. Como todo mundo tem voz ativa e pode dizer o que pensa, a coisa pode caminhar. Aí cabe, como dever de todos, achar o caminho e criar uma irmandade. Eu vibrei quando vi que o povo foi para a rua se manifestar, porque não tinha um líder nem partidos manipulando. Estamos em outro momento histórico, no século 21, é hora de apoiar uma ideia pelo valor que ela tem, não para favorecer quem a propõe. A internet ajuda muito nisso, ao compartilhar ideias, contrapor. Não é um só apontando o caminho.
Mas as redes têm também grupos se agredindo, a linguagem é chula, há julgamentos apressados e violência.
Sim, há risco de violência. Mas é importante parar de projetar no outro o inimigo. Tem de perceber que o que ele quer é a mesma coisa que nós queremos, entender quem nós somos, isso tem de ser conversado e aí se começa uma nação. Parar de achar que quem pensa diferente é meu inimigo. Parar com a polarização entre esquerda e direita, criar um caminho do meio, como tão bem prega o budismo.
Vivemos, ao mesmo tempo, uma queda geral de prestígio de todos os partidos e lideranças. Como isso é percebido pela população?
Acho que aí há dois sentimentos: a raiva e a esperança. É uma coisa negativa ver tanto dinheiro dos impostos desperdiçado, dá uma revolta. Mas também a gente passa por um momento único, gosto de participar desse momento precioso para se mudar a história do País. Tem de ir mais fundo na crise, jogar as cinzas fora, pra que nada reste delas. Fazer surgir o novo, sem o velho.
O debate anda azedo em questões decisivas para a sociedade, como sobre gênero, homoafetividade, o recente caso do estupro no Rio….
Mas o caminho é um só, debater. Pois o outro lado disso é o esquecimento, o ocultamento, que foi o que aconteceu desde sempre entre nós. Será melhor passar a borracha, dizer por exemplo, como disseram, que “a culpa era da menina porque estava no lugar errado”? Tem tanta gente indignada, a mídia está refletindo um sentimento do povo. O escândalo é bom, serve para alertar, para buscar consertar de alguma forma.
Sente-se otimista? Acha que o País está vivendo uma preparação para outra sociedade, sem um grande guia?
Acho que estamos num impasse. Existe o risco, sim, de o Pais não avançar, repetir a fórmula anterior e consagrar um novo líder. A confusão é clima ideal pra aparecer de novo alguém dizendo “eu resolvo”. Pessoas infantilizadas e mais carentes vão à procura desse líder, pode esperar. Por isso entendo que esses movimentos de rua são fundamentais.
Mesmo tendo, nas ruas, os movimentos “do outro lado”?
Com uma grande diferença: o outro lado luta para continuar delegando o destino da sociedade a um líder. É preciso, como disse, que esse grupo passe pela etapa da desilusão, se afaste da ideia de um líder salvador. O que existia falhou. Eles precisam enfrentar seu desafio, criar novas forças, sem projetar tudo no salvador. Por isso é que digo que passamos por um processo profundo de desilusão. E ele é a nossa salvação.
CULTURAL COMPLEX AND THE ELABORATION OF TRAUMA FROM SLAVERY
Pesquisa apresentada no Congresso Internacional de Psicologia Analítica, Montreal, Canada.
The idea of studying slavery from the psychological point of view occurred to me while I was giving a word-association test to a group of students in an analytical psychology workshop. To my surprise, one of the students said that he was very sad when he realized that he had associated the word “ship” to “black ship”.
“Black ship” was the name given to the vessels that brought Africans to Brazil to be sold as slaves. Later I found out that other students in this city had had similar reactions. I was working in the city of Salvador, the former capital of Brazil, in the state of Bahia, located in the north-east of Brazil, with a population of 80% African descendants. These students were doctors and psychologists, and it would be nearly impossible, just from their appearance, to tell which of them were of African descent.
We were in 2006, 118 years after the abolition of slavery in Brazil, so some of these students could have had relatives, grandparents or great-grandparents who had been slaves. The test revealed a conflictive and traumatic situation in the personal and collective unconsciousness. The kidnapping, breaking of family bonds, compulsory migration, the terrible journeys in the black ships, the submission and degrading situations, such as being sold, and all the mistreatment that Africans were submitted to, undoubtedly created a highly traumatic situation. According to historians, during this journey, a third of the African slaves died; the most common disease was Bantu, which means to miss someone. This level of mortality in black ships was three to four times higher than among free immigrants (Eltis 2003).
Of the total of 11 million Africans that were enslaved, three million six hundred thousand are estimated to have been brought to Brazil. Today, 51% of the Brazilian population comes from African origin. In the last few years a significant amount of literature has dealt with the history of these people, their rebellions and struggles to build an identity. However, from the psychological point of view much remains to be done.
One of the main questions for us today is how the descendants of these slaves are living now and how they still cope with these traumatic events.
One hundred and twenty-two years after abolition, Brazil remains a country marked by racial inequality. Statistics show that in Brazil the majority of people who are unemployed, uneducated and poor - as well as felons in jail - are of African descent (Henriques 2001; Kilsztajn et al.2008). Studies show that up until the first half of the 20th century, during the process of generalization of free labor and competition, the great mass of descendants of the old slave population lived in economic marginality (Furtado 2000; Hoffmann 2001). Brazilians themselves often attribute this to the legacy of slavery, arguing that the experience of bondage crippled Afro-Brazilians so severely as a social group that they proved unable, one century after emancipation, to compete effectively against whites for jobs, education, housing, and other social goods.
Clearly, the legacy of slavery helped shape this process by producing both employers unaccustomed and unwilling to bargain with their former slaves, and a former slave population with very specific demands concerning the conditions under which they would work as free men and women. That legacy is present throughout most of Brazil, where white immigrants are clearly the 'winners' and blacks the 'losers' in the process of economic development and prosperity. Moreover, while European descendants often take pride in their ancestors’ history by traveling to their family’s place of origin, and taking great pleasure in telling and retelling how their grandparents crossed the ocean and managed to be very successful in the new land, I observed that African descendants practically never touch on this subject.
Recent conducted among graduate students in the cities of Salvador and São Paulo confirmed this fact (Ramos, 2009). It should be remembered that São Paulo, a highly industrialized and developed city located in the South of Brazil, was basically formed by European immigrants, mostly Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese. The majority of its population is white and the influence of European culture is significantly present in its architecture, education, and local habits and culture. The two groups were compared as to their feelings with regard to their ancestors. The response to the questionnaire verified that there is a significant difference between the descendants of Europeans and Africans. While the former are familiar with the origin of their ancestors, what country their grandparents and great-grandparents came from, and expressed a desire to visit that place, the descendants of Africans say they do not know the origin of their grandparents (the majority does not even mention the city where these grandparents lived) and left blank the question on whether they would like to know their family’s origin. To the question on the influence of the color of skin in social and work relations, all the whites answered that their appearance is a helpful factor, whereas the black residents of São Paulo considered their color as a factor that generates feelings of inferiority and discrimination. Within this group we observe conflicting sentiments: many answer that they are proud of their origin but are ashamed of their parents and feel inferior.
Another study of this project observed and compared white and black students in a school of the city of São Paulo - age between 12 and 18 years. Ten hypotheses were raised to verify and compare self-esteem, whitening, racial identification, attributes of beauty, wealth, social and professional success. We used as instruments the scale of self-esteem of Rosenberg (Avanci, J.et al. 2007) and two questionnaires. In one of them the students had to choose which one of the four pictures (2 whites and 2 blacks) corresponded to a quality. For example: which one of them is more beautiful?
The results show that the vast majority of black teenagers assigns to the whites greater wealth, beauty and professional success. However, the black female students believe that they could also have professional success. Probably this is due to popularity of black artists and models and great appreciation of "black beauty" in some cultural circuits. Interesting to note is that black students see themselves as having so many friends as the white ones, revealing the same level of sociability.
Here we may reason that when a black teenager says that the blacks are uglier, poorer and with less possibility of success he or she is in a death end street. Feeling trapped in an undesirable body, the shadow (in this case, the good qualities) is projected into the white colleagues. A natural consequence is that there was a unanimous desire to look white. In our research, most teenagers of both sexes see themselves whiter than they are and declare that they would like to be white. Similar results were found by Lima and Vala (2004). In their study they investigated the effects of perceived skin color and of social success on the whitening and on the infra-humanization. The found out that blacks that obtain social success are perceived as whitener than the blacks that fail. A mediation analysis indicated that as much the blacks with success are whitened, more typically human characteristics are attributed to them. These surveys confirm other studies that reveal a whitening desire and the association of blackness with inferiority. Walter and Paula Boechat in their paper “Race, racism and inter racism in Brazil: clinical and cultural perspectives” say: “the basic, distinctive character of Brazilian racism is that it is based on the color of skin. This turn racism into a central element in the collective shadow of Brazil” (Boechat,W and Boechat, P. 2009, p. 196)
The skin color does not allow secrets, forgiveness or easy scape. It obliges the individual to identify with a group with whom he or she may not want to belong. There is no choice. As Kaplinsky says “skin color could trigger emotional reaction and is a key to the cultural complex” (Kaplinsky 2009, p.64). The results of these researches as of many others point to a possible psychological cause for the socio-economic distortions described above and raise the following questions:
Could it be that the self-esteem of African descendants became so low that this has made their social ascension difficult? What would be causing these symptoms? Would they be related to an underlined collective and cultural complex? Could slavery traumatic events be the core of this complex? Or could the slavery traumatic situation be fixed in a cultural complex that is transmitted from generation to generation?
In this paper I will make a brief analysis of trauma and cultural complexes and how these may manifest in a segment of African descendants living in a specific region of Brazil. Without trying to reduce this complex phenomenon to a single psychological cause, I will explore symptoms of a possible cultural complex and a collective trauma brought on by slavery.
The historical center of the city of Salvador, Bahia (the same city where I gave the workshop) was chosen for this study. The city of Salvador (“Savior”) is of great importance to this study, for this was the place where many “black ships” arrived and where slaves were sold. It has a very well conserved historical center, where many 18th century houses are still preserved, as well as the sites where slaves worked and lived. Over time, after the abolition of slavery this section of the city underwent a major transformation and was named a world cultural monument by UNESCO in 1985 (Cerqueira 1994; Miranda and Santos 2002).
The name of this historical center is very significant: “Pelourinho”, which means pillory or whipping post, a place where the slaves were sold, tortured and often killed.
THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
The research was carried out between 2005 and 2009 and was centered in:
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A. Historical documents
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B. Field observation- what happens on the streets
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C. Visit to museums and art galleries in the Pillory and interviews with six painters
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D. Trip to the center of two of the most famous musical groups of the Pillory
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E. Visit to black sacred places
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F. Interviews with community leaders
A. Historical Documents
Locations of the pillory
Originally the pillory was placed in the city's first open market, the “Praça da Feira” which today is known as “Praça Municipal” (Municipal Square), an open square at the top of the hill, just above the place where the “black ships” arrived. Today, there is a modern and colorful fountain in its place.
Sometime between 1602 and 1607 the pillory was moved by the governor's decree to the “Terreiro de Jesus” (The Jesus Yard), a place “far away from the public eyes”. But The Jesus Yard was the site of the Jesuit church and school, and the screams and groans interfered with church services and teaching. Today, in the same place as the pillory, stands a statue of French origin of Ceres, goddess of fertility and agriculture.
So by request of the priests, it was removed again, this time to the bottom of the “Porta de São Bento” where the “Praça Castro Alves” (Castro Alves Square) is now located. The pillory was removed for the last time in 1807, and taken to the square which would come to bear its name. So Salvador's pillory last stood at the top of the sloping “Largo do Pelourinho” (Pillory Square), the final stage in its journey, and it would stand there for another 28 years, until 1835. Today this is the main place for musical events to take place. The neighboring slave-auction site was renovated and converted into a museum (Rocha 1994).
The building of water fountains, the monument to the goddess Ceres, and finally a place for musical events where formerly stood the pillory may be interpreted here as an attempt to transform a spot associated with suffering and death into an area of joy and the celebration of life, even if for most of the population this is an unconscious act.
B. Field Observation- What happens on the streets
It is common to see women doing tererê, an African style of braiding hair, on tourists. Here there is an attitude of pride and valorization of a tradition in a culture where straight blonde hair is more appreciated. We also see women in African clothing selling traditional food and accessories made of beads and stones. African-Brazilian aesthetics has been gaining new elements through clothes, accessories, hairdos and prints. Recently “ethnic toys” have been appearing in the market, such as black dolls dressed as Africans. Questioned about the ugliness of the white doll, the black seller smiling responded to me: “but that’s the idea. See if you understand”.
Besides the ethnic dresses, there are many stores that sell African–Brazilian music as well as African musical instruments. Scenes of people performing the capoeira, a mixture of dance and fight, are also a common sight in the Pillory. Many times I ran into groups of people performing this art. The capoeira is considered a movement of the resilience of black culture and today is taught in schools all over Brazil, as well as abroad. According to Carlos S. Paulo (personal communication, April 2008), the capoeira was born of the necessity to develop a physical intelligence in people whose bodies were chained and oppressed. Thus the movements express the fight and defense against the oppressor, but they needed to be disguised as a form of dance so as not to appear as a threat to their lords and masters.
We can see here that some African traditions are not only recollected and represented but are also recalled and imagined, through association with dance and artifacts, some of which have been arranged and designated for that purpose. Here, the “power of telling and looking” is intimately intertwined with gestures and associated with the capacity to see and the possibility of making things visible (Hale 1998). But, which things do they want to make visible?
And what’s invisible in that place?
Finally we had seen some children and teenagers walk the streets begging for money and white man and woman tourists in a very open sexual behaviors with the blacks.
C. Visit to art galleries in the Pillory and interviews with six painters
Thirty-one cataloged art galleries were visited (seventy percent), where the most common themes among the paintings were noted and images looked for that had some reference to the local population and/or reflected slavery.
The main themes found in paintings were:
Nature: with young Indians and wild animals, especially birds and jaguars.
Human figures: paintings of sensual, young black women, mainly just the face, always in African clothing. While the women look joyful, a possible representation of the African anima, the few paintings of men reveal a deep sadness and are somber in tone. In this case, the painters were all men.
There were only three paintings with references to African origin: just one with slaves. In the other two, the natives had their eyes closed. What don’t they want to see? The representation of human figures with eyes closed is present in great number of paintings, especially when there is a picture of white man in the center. However, when the frame depicts only afro-descendants the black figures keep their eyes open. Are we watching a difficulty to face the white man? Are we dealing here with conflictive feelings? What is so difficult to be aware?
Above a very interesting painting depicts a woman with a sad look watching a bird nest. One bird carries a book and the other a pencil. In nest there are also two pencils. According to the author, the massage is that the way to freedom is through education; the people can only evolve when they know how to use pencil and paper (Raimundo Bastos dos Santos personal communication, 2009).
Yet according with the same painter, another path would be football and he pictured two children football players carrying eggs instead of balls in a nest of birds.
Scenes from the past, portraying the activities that took place in the Pillory, probably from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th, without any reference to slavery, torture or submission. There were not figures of the present time. The reference is mostly of an imaginary peaceful, non-conflictive past. We see also scenes of people dancing the capoeira and playing musical instruments. However, the most common paintings are those that represent the Orixás, gods of the African-Brazilian religion called Candomblé. These are strong and joyful figures generally portrayed dancing and dressed in very colorful clothes and accessories.
Here we observe perhaps a point of pride and self-esteem, for the priests of the African religions are highly respected and consulted by politicians and prominent people in Brazil. In terms of religion, it is important to that most Brazilian religion beliefs, besides Christianity, derive from African myths and legends, and the language used in these religions has been passed down through generations. The mythical aspects of these beliefs have influenced the cultural development of the country.
D. Visit to the center of two of the most famous musical groups of the Pillory: “Children of Gandhi” and “Olodum”
The group “Children of Gandhi”, with approximately 10,000 members, started as a cultural and musical (Carnival) organization whose aim was to preach peace in honor of the Indian leader Gandhi. They cultivate mystical-religious African-Brazilian traditions and their costumes are white and blue to represent the peace proposed by the Mahatma. Their songs make references to the beauty and strength of the suffering black people who, although marginalized and discriminated against, still demonstrate their art, their joy and their legacy from the land of their ancestors (old Africa).
The other group is called Olodum that means “God of the gods”, God creator of the universe. While most Brazilian musical groups wear yellow and green, the group Olodum adds red and black to their costumes. According to them, red stands for blood and black for the pride of their race. The rhythm is strong, the attitude a mix of fun and aggressiveness, and the loud sound of the drums, they say, “keeps the ghosts away”. The songs are usually about the creation of the universe, the wonders of the creator and the origin of the slave race. In one of their most popular songs they say they were born in Egypt and are sons of the pharaoh. Here we see a fantasy of grandiosity, since no slaves were sent from Egypt to Brazil.
In the quest for an identity, it is only natural that we should seek our myths of origin. In the case of African descendants, this return to the past touches on the question of the African Diaspora, since along the way, many lost their parents’ background, history and place of birth. Thus the music, the dresses and accessories create an image of “Mamma Africa”, idealizing a mythical Africa in order to be able to create African-Brazilian traditions. On the other hand, some of Olodum’s lyrics are famous for the joyful rhythm that expresses hope in the construction of a united country. In these songs there are no references to slavery, in fact, one of the most common themes is the black hero that shakes the country and transforms it, not with war but with an amorous attitude.
E. Visit to the church of Our Lady of the Rosario
Former slaves built this church in the 17th century and decorated it with the gold that they could hide in their pockets while building churches for their masters. Very well hidden in the rear there is a small cemetery and a kind of glass window. An excavation revealed that the skeletons buried there were of slaves still wearing their chains, slaves that were killed in the pillory. Their bodies had to stay exposed to the public so that they would serve as an example. However, during the night the members of the community would come and bury them in a hidden place. The small glass window has two statues of the slave Anastácia, who became one of the few myths of slavery. Anastácia is the legend of a beautiful young slave. She is desired by her master, whose wife is so envious of her beauty that she has Anastacia’s mouth covered so that she will die of hunger and thirst. At the bottom, this legend praises the black beauty and sex appeal as superior the white woman’s.
F. Interviews with business people and community leaders
There was a strong movement of transference and counter transference while doing the interviews. Sometimes the interviewers made me wait a long time. So they proportionated to me, perhaps in an unconscious way, the experience of lack of respect and humiliation. As I understood that it wasn’t personal (my skin color didn’t help), I hired an African descendent as my assistant.
The main observation among shopkeepers and some community leaders is that there is a deep concern with the commercial situation of the Pillory. The main problem, according to them, is that the residents of Salvador really only go to the city’s historical center when there is a concert or event taking place, so many stores and restaurants have been forced to close their doors.
One particularly interesting interview was held with Mr. Clarindo Silva, who has been living in the Pillory for 50 years and owns the oldest and most famous restaurant, the “Cantina da Lua” (Tavern of the Moon). Mr. Silva is very proud of the Pillory and of his own history, and even showed me a suit in which he paraded in the Pillory fashion show. No doubt one of the leading defenders of the preservation of this site, Mr. Silva says that the Pillory should be a place with schools and drugstores and not only a historical place or an open-air museum, meaning that they cannot just play for tourists but must go on and change their history. I think that Mr. Silva is leaving in the present and probably had overcome the racial problem.
CONCLUSIONS
All these observations allow us to raise several questions. The first set of questions below is similar to those raised by Eyerman (2001) in his book Cultural Trauma: Slavery and the Formation of African American Identity when analyzing slavery in the United States:
What pictures should African-descendants present to themselves and to the tourists and the white population? How has the cultural expression of African descendants evolved, changed, and revolved back to its origins over generations?
The true history of the Pillory, as we see it, is hidden in a small cemetery behind a church and in the bitter speech of the Pillory’s habitants. There is no conscious interaction between the cultural and symbolical richness and their daily life. Although African culture is deeply ingrained in Brazil - as can be seen in music, dance, food and religious practices - it seems that its acculturation remains restricted to these activities and is not integrated with others, such as profit-making economic activities. The buildings and houses are in need of better care and many residents are burdened by financial problems. It is clear that the inhabitants of the Pillory do not use their ability to show their many qualities and creativity, that is, to make their world visible (or invisible) as a form of power and part of the social construction of their identity.
Is the Pillory just an exhibition, a kind of theater that hides the true self of this population? Is the lack of representation of slavery a repression of the trauma or a form of resilience of this culture?
According to Singer and Kimbles’ (2004:19) affirmation that a traumatized group may represent a “false self” to the world, we could say that the customs, the paintings and the dancing that we observed could be showing a “false self”, and that the more authentic and vulnerable identity is hidden from the public eye. It is possible that such a traumatized group with their defenses may find themselves living with a history that spans several generations, several centuries, or even millennia with repetitive, wounding experiences that fix these patterns of behavior and emotion into what analytical psychologists have come to know as complexes. (Singer and Kimbles 2004:19)
The interviews with the artists and with important community figures, as well as the visit to the slave cemetery and the song’s lyrics, reveal another side of suffering and trauma. Most songs refer to a fanciful and unreal past, with fantasies of power and grandiosity.
We can also note a certain depression on the part of the interviewees, for there is little perspective in the future and a sense of dismay. Were they the future of the black teenagers of our study?
The habitants of the Pillory expect help from the government and complain bitterly about the lack of official support. The painters don't feel recognized and valued and everyone seems worried about the possible depletion of their place. However, there is very little private initiative. We observed certain passivity and an almost childish resentment. As we know, people in whom the effects of trauma become ingrained often develop a chronic sense of helplessness and victimization, as we have seen in our study. So it becomes clear that behind the colorful paintings there is deep depression and sadness. Our data allow us to say that conflicts, suffering and aggressive energies are very seldom expressed. By the contrary, most of the images are soft and joyful, expressing an idealized nature or paradise.
Probably, the energy used in warding off the memory of the traumatic experience impoverished the mental life or the strength to take life in a more active and conscious way. Although the defenses helped to survive at the same time there are repressing the necessary energy that could broke the racial barrier.
While this Historical Center protects and gives a framework to its habitants, at same time it is a prison that forges an identity. An identity mainly based on skin color. The African descents may feel at home and protect in the Pillory. But this is a protection that may impede further develop, a protection that does not allow any scape from this group identity. As Kaplinsky says: “to belong implies a boundary and while a boundary provides a sense of containment, it can also be an area of intercourse, or a point to be broken through – or out of “ - in order to ‘become’ and ‘individuate’”. (Kaplinsky 2009, p.63)
Although the trauma of kidnapping and forced subordination was not directly experienced by the subjects of this study, the memory of slavery seems to forge a collective identity even if not felt by everyone in this community. We may even wonder if the name “pillory” somehow has an unconscious effect on the population “obliging” them to repeat the collective memories as a contemporary experience. As we saw it, the place where it stood for centuries has been replaced by fountains, statues and musical centers, but its name certainly lets no-one forget the slavery that was practiced there and seems to be perpetuated as a cultural complex centered on a collective trauma.
We know that when trauma fails to be integrated into the totality of a person’s life experience, the victim remains fixated on the trauma. Disruption or loss of social support is associated with inability to overcome the effects of psychological trauma. Lack of support may leave enduring marks on subsequent adjustment and functioning. Freud (1893) described a compulsion to repeat the trauma as an attempt of the organism to drain this excess of energy. He thought that by redoing and repeating the trauma the victims attempted to change a passive stance to one of active coping. Wouldn’t be the case of the abandoned children on the streets? Wouldn’t that explain the feeling of victimization of some habitants?
Conclusion
The ways in which the collective memory and the representation of a shared past are present in Pillory, through painting and music, do not amount to an elaboration or transformation of the trauma, but may raise two hypotheses: they could be expressing defenses that might help this group’s spirit to survive, or else reveal a split between the collective psyche, a trauma and a cultural complex. Perhaps both are valid.
If trauma links past to present through representations and imagination, then what we witnessed as the representation of slavery, may indicate that this trauma is acting out in the present in the form of repeated and compulsive behaviors of unconscious submission and low-esteem, which may explain the critical socio-cultural situation of African descendants in most parts of Brazil. The few historical black personages, such as the slave Anastácia and others that belong to the heroic struggle for liberty, were not incorporated in the collective consciousness and remains hidden at the back of a small cemetery, for example. Rarely mentioned, portrayed or sang by their descendants, they are not used as examples for pride or self-esteem.
The cultural richness and capacity of resilience of Afro-descendants, and the contribution that their ancestors made to the development of the nation, remain unconscious. The ideas of dominion, control and power are still deposited in whites, thus provoking a defensive splitting. According to Young-Eisendrath (1987:41), in this case two conditions may be present: anxiety (or fear) - when the Other is experienced as powerfully evil - or envy - when the Other is experienced as powerfully good, but holds the power and “the goodies” for itself. As she points out: “racism is a psychological complex organized around the archetype of opposites, the splitting of experience into Good and Bad, White and Black, Self and Other”. One of the consequences of this scission is explicit in projections on the “Negro’s body” (Young-Eisendrath 1987:41)
Prostitution and exploitation of the body, especially the bodies of mulattawomen sold as merchandise, and of the black male body as being strong and sensual, is based on the stereotype that blacks have better “physical” attributes, as if they were “closer to nature” and therefore endowed with an especially attractive sexuality and exceptional strength. This stereotype is clearly assumed by the population observed, who use their body and corporal art as the principal vehicles of their culture. The same fact we had observed in our studies with teenagers when the girls see the possibility of professional success though body exposure. Paula and Walter Boechat made a similar observation: “the idea of the inferiority of non-white groups still remain in the cultural unconscious (this is) the idea that blacks may come to a social realization only in sports or in music, not though an academic profession”. (Boechat, W and Boechat, P. 2009, p.112)
On the other hand we may understand some behaviors observed in the Pillory, as defensive forms of behavior, maneuvers to seduce and deceive the powerful, and are far from expressing the true feelings of this population. They may even be considered as a form of resilience and capacity for survival of these people who still hesitate to assume their full freedom. A good example is a scene observed in a restaurant in the Pillory, with the gentle, smiling response of the (black) waitress to the aggressive (white) customer who complained about the slowness of service: “Calm down there, my king, what’s the hurry, your food’s on its way”.
So, the more we study this phenomenon, the more complex it becomes. What is evident is that the silence and lack of studies on the matter have contributed to preserving stereotypes that are emotionally-charged beliefs based on cultural complexes that interfere with seeing people more precisely and empathically. Probably these stereotypes belong to all Brazilians, which make it difficult for a large part of this population to develop, both emotionally and in socio-economic terms.
So we might say that the anthropological, historical and social studies, the epidemiological data, the black and white comparative studies allow us to affirm that there is strong evidence of a cultural complex due to slavery trauma in the observed population. And we might also say that in order to have a healthier country, the new generation needs to interpret and come to terms with their collective traumatic past and their relationship to the past. And to achieve this, it is necessary to research the origins, to heal the trauma and to restore the dignity of the black heritage. It is important to notice that the question of trauma brought on by slavery has formed a complex that reaches the Brazilian culture as a whole, and not just African descendants. This complex probably feeds the inferiority complex pointed out in other studies, which is considered the psychological base for the tolerance towards political corruption in the country (Ramos 2004). Once all Brazilians are in some way affected by these complexes in his or her upbringing, now identified as “superior” and now “inferior”, the national identity and the possibility of building a healthier and fairer nation becomes endangered, perpetuating countless sinister projections independent of skin color and disconnected from reality, but imprisoned in a shameful and tragic history. In this case we are all “victims”, and only the painful awareness of the “nation’s blackness” will be able to restore the value of the African heritage in forming a national identity. By the way, there is no such term as “Afro–Brazilian”, “African-Brazilian” or “African descendent”. These terms have been used here just for the purpose of differentiation. We all call ourselves, simply, “Brazilians”, which probably indicates that a part of the social substratum that forms the national identity remains intact.
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Picture taken by the author at Pelourinho
The owner’s daughter by Adriano Luiz Gonçalves (Salvador, 2009)
Food for birds by Raimundo Bastos dos Santos (Salvador, 2009)
Orixá by Ricardo Miranda dos Santos (Salvador, 2009)
São Joaquim’s street fair by José Maria de Souza (Salvador, 2009)