On November 8th, the Brazil LAB hosted a book release and discussion of Brazil: A Biography with award-winning author Lilia Schwarcz. Schwarcz is a professor of Anthropology at the University of São Paulo and a visiting professor at Princeton; she is also a member of the LAB's advisory board. Professor Jeremy Adelman, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History and Director of the Global History Lab, acted as discussant. The discussion was moderated by João Biehl, Susan Dod Brown Professor of Anthropology and Brazil LAB co-director.

The well-attended event celebrated the release of the English translation of Schwarcz's book, which was published in Portuguese in Brazil in 2014, becoming a national best-seller. Schwarcz remarked that, in light of the dramatic changes with Brazil's political move to the far-right, she and her co-author Heloisa Starling had to write an entirely new conclusion to the book for its English translation.

Brazil: A Biography explores over 500 years of history, art, food, and popular culture and grapples with the dark legacies of colonialism and slavery. Schwarcz called her biographical approach “an alternative form of understanding Brazil,” constructing its history from the collective stories of Brazilians themselves.

Photos by Daiane Tamanaha.