WOLF-DIETRICH SAHR, Ponta Grossa: Religion und
Szientismus in Brasilien. Versuch (Essay) Ÿber eine dekonstruktive
Regionalgeographie des Wissens
Religion and Scientism in Brazil. Towards a
deconstructive regional geography of knowledge
Geography commonly deals with the
spatial formation of meaning and matter resulting in regional geographies with different characters. Since Renaissance time, spatial
formations in the world are increasingly dominated by scientific approaches;
however, religious and ethno-philosophical implications in modeling society and
landscape are still valid. The case of Brazil clearly demonstrates that the
construction of everyday social worlds is profoundly influenced by religious
ideologies, while the modernist development ideology of the Nation State has
formed a surface structure of a ÒmodernÓ Brazil that is often incompatible with
Brazilian societyÕs popular segments. In this context it is important to point
to the difference of ideological incompatibilities of knowledge structures in
society and call for a new approach in regional geography, developing
deconstructivist techniques which are based on action theory and its critical
potential. Throughout the investigation it became clear that modernity has
trickled down into Brazilian society through economic and political forces,
often introduced from outside. These range from the introduction of the
scholastic ideas of the Catholic Church, the Jesuit enterprise, the 18th
century reforms carried out by the Marquis of Pombal, an absolutist leader, the
superficial implementation of romantic ideas for a Brazilian Nation State
during the Brazilian Empire, to the more recent promulgation of positivist
ideologies promoting technological advance and education in the Old Republic,
the Estado Novo
and the latest Republican models. All these attempts have led Brazil to the
formation of a modern nation state. On the other hand, a great number of
religious social structures and spaces have appeared, ranging from the
hierarchical space of traditional Roman Catholicism to the communitarian and
syncretic space of rural ideologies, the individualistic approach of
Protestantism, the rhizomatic space of Afro-Brazilian religions and the fluid
space of Amerindian religions, all of them counteracting, to a certain degree,
the imposed development model through social actions.
¯ zurŸck zur homepage
¯ zurŸck zum Gesamtinhaltsverzeichnis