How much do Americans know about Brazil?

The assignment: Discover how much Americans (or at least those in the bubble of San Luis Obispo) know about Brazil.

The answer: Not very much.

A random, highly unscientific, survey in San Luis Obispo revealed a limited, but relatively accurate, knowledge of the geography, sports, and entertainment of Brazil.  On the other hand, those interviewed knew virtually nothing about the politics or history of the world’s fifth largest nation in both size and population.

The ten subjects interviewed ranged in age from 20 to 57.  Six women and four men participated.  Six were students at Cal Poly.  All had at least some college education.  The non-students all work and live locally.  Only one ever visited Brazil.

The respondents answered the following questions:

•          What continent is Brazil in?
•          What is the capital of Brazil?
•          What comes to mind when you think of Brazil?
•          What is the primary language spoken in Brazil?
•          Can you name an important historical event that happened in Brazil in:
•    the past century?
•    the past five years?
•    the past year?

 Some interviewees expounded on their responses and answered follow-up questions.

All ten respondents knew Brazil is in South America.  Two (correctly) identified it as the biggest country in the continent.  Most knew at least some bordering nations, but seemed vague about details.

Not one person correctly identified the capital of Brasilia.  The answers follow: Don’t know (4), Rio de Janeiro (3), Buenos Aires (2) and Sao Paulo (1).  Interestingly, Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil until 1960.  Because the respondents demonstrated limited knowledge of Brazilian history, it seems probable those that answered with Rio de Janeiro knew the name as a tourist attraction, rather than recognizing it as a former capital.  

Brazil's national soccer team lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup

Six interviewees thought of soccer first when they contemplated Brazil. Many answered with more than one thought.  Responses included: Rio (the movie), the Amazon, produce, coffee, beauty, Carnival, parties, Rio de Janeiro, Olympics and World Cup.

No one mentioned anything about politics, government, religion or demographics. “I’d love to go there for the Olympics,” a 37-year-old salesperson suggested.  “Soccer! Parties!” enthused a 22-year-old Cal Poly kinesiology major.

Six correctly identified the language of Brazil as Portuguese.  The rest believed Spanish was the principal language.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represented the U.S. when Brazil inaugurated Dilma Rousseff, its first female president

Interviewees knew virtually nothing of the history of Brazil – recent or past.  A 45-year-old non-profit executive suggested (tentatively, but correctly), “Didn’t they elect a woman president recently?”  Five people mentioned something to do with either poverty or political unrest, but could not expand.  While both occurred in Brazil’s past, a burgeoning middle class reduced poverty and the government stabilized in recent years.

In general, those interviewed expressed mild embarrassment or apprehension about their lack of knowledge.  Rather than answering questions definitively, respondents tended to answer a question with a question.  For example, more than one person said, “Is it Rio de Janeiro?” A couple of students pulled out their phones to look up answers. 

However, the results are not surprising.  This survey supports the stereotype that Americans rarely think globally, preferring to focus on local and national issues.  Most often, we learn about other nations either when we are involved in a conflict with them or when something extraordinary happens.  In a time of war or disaster, we pay attention.  The United States maintains friendly relations with Brazil, and few natural catastrophes occur there.  Therefore, American audiences remain detached.

Further, in peaceful times, Americans tend to immerse themselves in lighter issues – entertainment, sports and such.  Therefore, the fact that interviewees knew more about Brazilian sports, Carnival and Rio de Janeiro than history seems predictable. 

While technology now makes a vast array of information about other nations readily available, Americans may not be concerned enough or allow enough time to explore and process all the available material.  Likely, we will continue to focus largely on those matters that impact or engage us most directly.