São Paulo – The doctoral thesis of sociologist Patrícia El-moor, of the University of Brasília, sets out to determine what the Brazilian people think of the Arabs. Still, unlike dozens other studies made on the history of Arabs in Brazil, Patrícia chose to do her work differently. She wants to collect pictures, taken by people from all over Brazil, of places, people, objects or whatever it is that they believe is a part of Arab presence in national territory.
“The idea is to show how society has built the imagery of Arab presence in Brazil,” claims Patrícia, whose great-grandparents are Lebanese. “I want to find out what is on the minds of Brazilians when you mention Arabs.” According to the researcher, it is very common for Brazilians to associate Arabs to just the Syrians and the Lebanese, which comprise the majority of the colony in the country. “The view people have of Arabs in Brazil is different from other countries. In France, for instance, whenever you speak of Arabs, they think Algerians and Moroccans,” she says.
Patrícia’s initial project for her thesis was to study Arab characters in national soap operas. “I was going to show some of the stereotypes [in these characters]. However, if I were to tackle soap opera, I was only going to show the screenwriters’ views. Through photography I will have more material to analyse. Besides, I will be able to count on the participation of people from across Brazil that I cannot interview personally,” she says.
To promote her work and receive the pictures, Patrícia created the website “Arab Presence in Brazil” (Presença Árabe no Brasil), which went up last Monday (1st) and received 12 images on its first day. The photos cannot be seen by visitors yet, but Patrícia wants to organize them so as to show all the submissions she got and identify which part of Brazil they came from.
“Starting next year, I will arrange the site into a map, to show where the pictures are coming from. I am already putting together an image bank,” she says. “Out of the pictures I received, most depict architectural details, arabesques. Only two are pictures of people, showing two Muslim women.” “I will try to update it every week. By Friday, the first pictures will already be up,” she says.
To contribute to the project, the submitter must be the author of the pictures or the picture must be a family photo. Submitters may choose whether or not their names will be disclosed on the site. The sociologist claims that she does not have many expectations regarding the types of image she will receive. “I don’t want to influence people with my words, I want people to send in whatever springs to their minds,” she says.
For further information on how to collaborate with the project “Arab Presence in Brazil,” go to http://www.presencaarabe.com/#!contact. Submit your photo to presencaarabe@gmail.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
