“MAY ALL FLOWERS BLOOM”

Natalia Konstantinova,
Head of the Center for Cultural Studies at the Institute for Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Cand. Sc. History

Russia–Brazil Cultural Ties
One of the most vibrant and reliable indicators of genuine relations between countries has always been their cultural ties. And, indeed, political, economic, and other contexts revolve like images in a kaleidoscope, barely lingering in memory, while cultural values and the most out-standing masterpieces deftly leave a long-lasting deep emotional imprint.

Throughout human history, culture has been a crucial factor in bringing together races, peoples, and civilizations. Adapting to new times, and depending on its level of development, culture can serve various practical purposes—play different roles so to say—in the work of diplomatic missions. It can shape a country’s image and become a prime export product. It is multifaceted, and only by “immersing” oneself in its history, by embarking on a journey “back in time,” can a complete picture of interculturl communication be reconstructed. And although in our case, there has not been many a peck of salt eaten since that “time,” given Brazil was discovered only in 1500, this task is by no means an easy one.

Cultural studies, fortunately, allow for another approach—a synchronistic one, examining phenomena through the lens of modern times. So, it makes sense to focus on the significantly less explored intercultural communication within modern reality. Although, rewinding historical tape is inevitable, as Russia and Brazil are countries that have long established robust relations in various fields, particularly in culture. As early as 1825, Alexander Pushkin translated a poem by Thomas Antonio Gonzaga. In 1829, an essay on Brazilian literature appeared in the magazine “Son of the Fatherland.” In 1834, the magazine “Telescope” published an article entitled “Advances in Literature, Science, and Fine Arts in Brazil,” translated from French by Vissarion Belinsky.

As a bit of a tangent, may it be appropriate, I believe that there is a sort of “empathy”—simply put, mutual sympathy, interest, and susceptibility—between the Brazilian and Russian cultures. Much has been said and written about the enigmatic Russian soul. But Brazilian culture—often called the nation’s soul—has its own peculiar charm, its own “special touch.” One immediately grasps it when immersed in the world of a particular mood where the festive carnival joy is intertwined with a delicate melancholy.

A bit of theory
No wonder that intercultural communication has become a popular topic of humanitarian scientific discourse, both in Russia and Brazil, given its immense importance in today’s globalized society in terms of enabling people from diverse cultures to interact and understand one another. For it to be as effective as possible, a number of conditions must be met. Chief among them is the knowledge of the communicative code of one’s interlocutor—their language, traditions, set behavioural norms, customs, and societal morals. To adequately perceive information during the interaction of the actors of communication, one should be aware of the spiritual and material culture of other peoples, their moral values, worldviews.

And, of course, the image of the partner country plays more than just a simple role in fostering fruitful cultural interaction. In our case, it’s creating a positive image of Brazil among Russians and vice versa.

Relations between cultures can unfold in various ways. Undoubtedly, intercultural communication between Russia and Brazil is built on an equal footing. This is a dialogue of equals, or rather a polylogue, when more than two actors interact simultaneously. It is safe to say that this issue has been significantly resolved, so to speak, by the cultures themselves, spontaneously, without regard to theory. But, in recent years, much has been defined under the state cultural policy, and increasing attention is being paid to scientific approaches.

In Russia, the theory of intercultural communication began to actively develop in the mid-1990s, and ever since has become an academic discipline based on a network of research centers and higher educational institutions. Concomitantly, there also is a growing interest in studying Portuguese, mirrored by significant growth of interest in Russian in Brazil.

New Times - New Forms of Cooperation
Each era gives birth to its own models and algorithms of intercultural communication. As for modern times, they are marked by the emergence of previously non-existent forms of cultural cooperation. Chief among these is virtual communication, which is expanding across the ever-growing media landscape, becoming a crucial regulator of our society. The possibilities of this model seem boundless, while its effectiveness entirely depends on mutual understanding and respect for the cultures of communication partners.

When discussing new models of cultural interaction, one cannot overlook the concept of “cross-cultural years.” This is the broadest form of cultural cooperation, reflecting the spirit of the times. The first steps were made in 2010 with the “France-Russia Year of Culture,” which turned out an incredible success. It was followed by the “Russia-Spain Year” and a string of others. Nevertheless, there has not been a “Cross-Cultural Year” between Russia and any Latin American country, except for Argentina a decade ago. Yet, this very form would allow for an expanded mutual understanding of each country’s culture, conceptually constructing cultural events in both directions, alternating art exhibitions and concerts, theater performances and film festivals, scientific conferences, and meetings of cultural figures.

Coming back to the virtual realm, it must be acknowledged that the path to realizing the potential offered by advancements in high technology is not always smooth. It is fraught with all sorts of “thorns”—just consider excerpts from an intriguing study by Brazilian and Russian scholars, published in 2022 under the title “Brazilian Media Narrative about Russia: Construction of Reality and Correlation with American Media.”

The choice of the magazine “Veja,” also available online, as the subject of the study is well-justified. Indeed, as experts agree, since Veja holds a prominent position in the Brazilian media landscape, being the country’s most popular magazine, it is crucial to emphasize that the media reality it constructs about Russia is influential and significant in Latin America. It is reasonable to assume that, subconsciously, the middle, upper, and ruling classes in Brazil, the most educated *and powerful in society, shape their worldviews based on Veja’s narrative.

The discussion revolves around the analysis of the international dis-course of Brazil’s most popular mass media outlet, with a circulation of over a million copies, established in the 1940s. The primary finding of the initial stage of this research were the clear correlations in the way information about Russia is covered in nowa-days Brazilian and American press. “In the Brazilian media landscape, there is an evident discursive line similar to what is commonly referred to as the ‘Western narrative.’” Then it establishes an “obvious fact” that “international journalism handles foreign countries frivolously, as it reports only on crises, wars, disasters, diseases, crime, and corruption... Public and cultural life does not attract sufficient attention.”

Undoubtedly, the eternal hurdle to successful cultural cooperation between Russia and Brazil is geography. It has always caused significant difficulties, such as logistic challenges, in organizing any tours or museum exhibition projects. And the digital age has changed little in this regard. Although, overall, the recent changes in the cultural sector are impressive. Paradoxically, it is exactly in COVID-19, when this field—museums, concert halls, cinemas, art galleries, theaters—suffered economically due to social isolation, that the need to overcome this hurdle to remain in the profession led to a lightning-fast expansion of the virtual world. Surveys of cultural figures conducted in Brazil towards the end of the pandemic revealed that the majority of respondents (76.4%) began using online resources to continue their professional work, while pre-COVID times accounted for 8.5%.

The space brought about by electronic communications, where individuals or groups, acting together online, create visual and sound environments, offers ever new types and forms of communication. And media culture emerges within this media reality.

From Words to Action
Intercultural communication, like any other endeavor, requires proper organisation, administration, discussions, a cultural policy strategy, and optimal implementation methods. In other words, it requires competent people. It is no coincidence that Russia is increasingly focusing on training intercultural communication experts year after year. The result of this thoughtful, even systematic, approach is a multitier architecture of cultural ties between Russia and Brazil—from the governmental level down to the regional and municipal levels. As for cooperation between individual administrative units, the primary interaction occurs with Brazilan states that have the largest number of descendants of Russian immigrants. These include Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, São Paulo, Paraná, and others*.

The municipal level, in turn, witnessed the emergence of sister cities, such as St. Petersburg and Rio de Janeiro, Chelyabinsk and Guarulhos, Irkutsk and Campina das Missões. There are also mixed models, such as the Gorodets district of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the city of Trindade. This setup works effectively, thanks in part to the active efforts of committees established in each Brazilian municipality, which have secretariats to coordinate ongoing exchanges and cooperation.

Inspiring Prospects
Forecasting is a tricky matter. But I envision the future of cultural co-operation between our countries in quite rosy hues. There are grounds for optimism. Besides the trend toward further rapprochement, based on the solid foundation of all previous cultural bonds, in September 2023, Brazil and Russia signed a series of bi-lateral agreements on cultural inter-action in the fields of museum affairs, literature, fine arts, cinema, education, and science.

The signed documents were the outcome of the visit of the Ministry of Culture of Brazil to Russia, led by Executive Secretary Marcio Tavares, invited by the relevant Russian Ministry. The delegation visited Moscow and St. Petersburg, taking part in the first meeting of the Working Group on Culture of the Brazilian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Trade, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation. The mission of the Brazilian Ministry commenced in Moscow through meetings with Deputy Minister of Culture of Russia Andrey Malyshev, Director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin, Director (at the time) of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Elizaveta Likhacheva, and Director of the Library of Foreign Literature Pavel Kuzmin. The delegation also visited GES-2, a contemporary art gallery located in a decommissioned power station, and the Ibero-American Cultural Center, established at the Library of Foreign Literature. In St. Petersburg, the delegation met with the board of directors of the Hermitage and the general director of the Russian National Library.

Following the visit, Marcos Tavares concluded that the delegation had successfully visited several institutions and, together with their staff, outlined a “strategic cooperation” in education and culture. The cooperation agreement signed by the Minis-tries provides for the implementation of a range of large-scale projects. The first and foremost among them was the “Russian Seasons” held in 2024.

The “Russian Seasons” marked a qualitative leap in the history of Russian-Brazilian cultural ties. The program was fully implemented, with the opening ceremony taking place on June 17 at the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro. The audience was treated to a performance by the world-renowned Russian opera singer Ildar Abdrazakov (bass). Joining him were winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition—Zinaida Tsarenko (mezzo-soprano), Sergey Davydchenko (piano), and Daniil Kogan (violin). The musical atmosphere of the event was enhanced by the Symphony Orchestra of the Brazilian city of Barra Mansa, led by Russian maestro Denis Vlasenko.

The public enjoyed songs and arias by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Mikhail Glinka, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and other great Russian composers. The very same day, the foyer of the theater unveiled the historical exhibition “Art Masquerade of the Russian Seasons” by renowned Russian theater artist Nika Velegzhaniova. The display featured costumes designed by Léon Bakst, Alexander Golovin, Mikhail Larionov, and Sergei Sudeikin—participants of Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons,” who made significant contributions to the new vision of stage design in the early 20th century.

Among other positive factors fuel-ing optimism is the inaugural speech of Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In his address to the nation, outlining key priorities of his tenure, he particularly stressed the cultural policy. “A nation is measured not only by statistical data, no matter how impressive they may be,” declared Lula. “In reality, just like every individual, a nation expresses itself through the soul of its people. Brazil’s soul lies in the unprecedented diversity of our people and our culture... May all flowers bloom and all fruits of our creativity be reaped.

People coming to Brazil with passports issued with the Russian Empire were perceived as “Russians,” which confused the statistics right from the start, since in fact they could be Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Jews, Baltics, and even Germans living in the Volga region. The first migration wave (1870-1917) was mainly peasants. After the revolution and the Civil War, they were mostly refugees: white officers with their families, officials, intellectuals, nobles, and the bourgeoisie. And those who emigrated to Brazil, as a rule, got there via Vladivostok or Shanghai (staying in Harbin for several years). How many ethnic Russians live in Brazil now? Literature gives very different figures. The number of 35,000-40,000 seems to be closest to real statistics.