Welcome to the seventh edition of Arara, Winter 2003/04!

Ideally, Arara would be published under thematic subjects. This happened in issue six when it was possible to have a special edition devoted to the Aztecs. However, throughout the years, bringing together papers under a one-topic umbrella has proven to be a difficult undertaking. Coincidentally, and somewhat fortunately, the current issue can easily be categorised under the single theme of Brazilian cultural identity from three different perspectives, namely those of archaeology and literature. Its ‘Brazilian-ness’ is reinforced in its format, as current issue’s papers are in Portuguese!

When compared to Latin American countries such as Peru or Mexico, where archaeology and heritage are relatively high on the agenda, Brazil still lags somewhat behind. The lack of such monuments as the great ancient cities of Peru or Mexico does not however signify that the immense Brazilian territory is deficient in archaeological heritage. On the contrary, Brazil has a huge number of important archaeological sites that should be taken more seriously by its government.

Lagoa Santa in Minas Gerais, Pedra Furada in Piauí, Sambaquis (shell mounds) in the South, Santarén in the North, and various new research projects in the Amazon are just a few examples of the  importance of Brazilian archaeological sites which are - unfortunately - not realising their full potential.

In our first paper, Funari discusses how crucial and essential it is to preserve Brazil’s rich past by looking after its historical heritage. The author also informs us of the problems concerning Brazilian cultural heritage: how archaeology is strongly linked with politics and how Brazilian national identity is still manipulated by its aristocracy who continue to preserve elitist icons and dismiss those which tell the history of the hoi polloi.

In the second paper, Gomes Carreira analyses how the cultural identity of the Portuguese who emigrated to Brazil was shaped, and by doing so thus observes the formation of the Brazilian national identity, as the Portuguese immigrants themselves were a vital ingredient in the formation of Brazil. The author gives special attention on role of literature in this process.

Cristiana Bertazoni
Editor