PREFACE 



VII 



Perhaps as much effort went into checking ma- 

 terials as into their collection. Accoiuits given by 

 one informant were constantly checked with ac- 

 counts given by other informants. In the prepara- 

 tion of the manuscript, considerable care was 

 exercised in the use of such words as "often," 

 "sometimes," "most," "many," "several," and 

 "few," so as to describe as precisely as possible 

 the degree of variation from universality. Wlien, 

 during the writing of the monograph, doubt arose 

 regarding the accuracy of a statement, other mem- 

 bers of the research staff were consulted. "When 

 these doubts could not be resolved, a return was 

 made to the field. 



The experience of preparing the monograph for 

 publication strengthens the conviction that the 

 author has long held regarding the value, if not 

 the absolute necessity, that one or more of the 

 persons undertaking any research project be in- 

 timately familiar from birth with the society and 

 culture in question, so that the subtle meanings of 

 cultural forms which may escape the outsider, and 

 wliich conceivably may be among the most im- 

 portant elements of that culture, will more likely 

 be discovered and given the description and an- 

 alysis which they merit. From this point of view, 

 the progi-am of the Institute of Social Anthropol- 

 ogy is especially fortunate, in that it involves, as 

 has been indicated, close collaboration between 

 persons from indigenous as well as United States 

 institutions. 



To protect the anonymity of informants, es- 

 pecially in consideration of the intimate character 

 of much of the data here presented, their names, 

 as well as the name of the village itself, are fic- 

 titious. In large part, however, the names used 

 for local individuals, as well as that used for the 

 village itself, have at one time or another been 

 employed in the community. 



To hire the services of informants, which or- 

 dinarily is, in the author's opinion, a precarious 

 procedure in any case, is virtually impossible in 

 this culture. In most cases, no amount of effort 

 will persuade a local inliabitant that, by talking 

 to a researcher, he has merited any remuneration 

 whatever. The offer of payment is apt to be 

 considered an insult or at least to imply hidden 

 motives which by reason of their obscurity are to 

 be feared. Even gifts to informants must be pre- 

 sented with tact, so that the recipient does not 



feel under the obligation of making a gift in 

 return. One of the most effective techniques in 

 this respect is to present informants with photo- 

 graphs, taken of themselves, of some member of 

 their family or of something which they own and 

 prize. 



Whenever a word or phrase has been introduced 

 into the account to support general statements or 

 to make the account more understandable, the 

 translation has been made literally, if it was 

 thought that such a version would be of particular 

 interest or utility; in most cases, however, trans- 

 lations have been made freely, in order to give 

 as nearly as possible the precise meaning in Eng- 

 lish. No attempt has been made to translate such 

 terms as alma and santo, although m each case 

 there exists an English equivalent, since to do so 

 would convey to the mind of the reader, especially 

 in the United States, a context of meaning diverse 

 from that which adheres to the Brazilian equiva- 

 lent. Perhaps it should also be emphasized that 

 when a local word or phrase is I'etained in the 

 text, variations from standard Portuguese usage, 

 which one familiar with the language will at once 

 note, are due to the fact that the word or phrase 

 is given in the caipira dialect. Accents occa- 

 sionally have been added to Portuguese words even 

 when they are not commonly used in Brazil so as 

 to aid the English reader in the pronunciation of 

 terms which may be unfamiliar. 



Records were taken of the estimates, made by 

 farmers, of the yields of the various crops grown 

 in the community. Since, however, informants 

 are little given to thinking in such terms, the 

 data so obtained, until they are checked by actual 

 measurements which it was not possible to under- 

 take during the course of this study, are probably 

 not accurate enough to be included. 



To the many villagers and members of farm 

 families who, with unfailing courtesy and consid- 

 eration, received the author and his wife, as well as 

 other members of the research staff, and who gave 

 unstintingly of their time and information, I am 

 deeply grateful. Once their confidence has been 

 gained and the motives in asking questions identi- 

 fied, the rural people of Brazil are among the most 

 willing and articulate informants it has been my 

 privilege to know. 



To the administration of the Escola Livre de 

 Sociologia e Politica, and especially to its director, 



