Brazilian Books Between Rio de Janeiro and Frankfurt

Abstract

This ethnografic study o f the organization and staging o f the 46th international Frankfurt Book F air’s hom age to Brazil, in O ctober 1994, is-concerned with professions linked to the publishing world and with the pow er o f the book in the social construction o f emblems, stereotypes, and sentiments o f nationality. It also endeavors to com prehend how the classification ‘national’ and ‘international’define both editorial practices and the circulation o f the printed word within books. This event is analyzed as a show o f ritualization, one that makes it possible to analyze the specific conditions under wich messages about a nation are made public. This article demonstrates the interwining o f three related cultural and social processes: internationalization,nationalism, and professionalization.33