Review: Handbook of Contemporary Religions in Brazil

Abstract

The handbook intends to give a more complete overview of the Brazilian religious landscape with appropriate theoretical approaches given by several scholars who have devoted their research to the different expressions of the religious phenomena in that country. By contextualizing the Brazilian history and cultural diversity in the construc-tion of the nation, the authors help to explain the varied and complex religious scenario that contrasts with the present almost completely monolingual country in spite of its extension. In spite of the predominantly Christian background, there is a rich diversity within that matrix as well as distinct dynamics involved in the negotiation of the religious space, resulting from the interaction between different races and class distinct from other countries in America. This diverse scenario has undergone a quick change during the last decades. The editor's recognition of the distinct Brazilian features in the religious scenario prompted a different descriptive and conceptual approach beyond the European and North American ways of approaching religion. With this in mind, several authors who have an excellent knowledge of approaches given by Brazilian scholars and their literature that are not known by the public used to the English literature. The book contextualizes also the study of religion within the Brazilian academic history. The studies of the religious phenomena in the country start with the advent of the social sciences. It is undeniable the European contribution, especially from France in the first period. The positivist heritage allied with growing Marxist influence in the 1960s onward has left religion almost ignored as a field of research in the Brazilian universities. That academic situation, reinforced by the military dictatorship that faced