Varig, “a Real Brazilian Embassy Outside”

Anthropological reflections on aviation and national imaginaries

Bibliographic Data

ID10248847
AuthorsC Castellitti (0000-0003-3843-4296, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume40
Issue1
Pages82-105
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Transport History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5266 • E-ISSN: 1759-3999
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022526618822132
OpenAlexW2910967623
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited10

This paper proposes some anthropological notes on aviation and national imaginaries, taking Varig, an important Brazilian airline with international projection and recognition, as a starting point. The analysis is based on an explorative perspective, which included fieldwork among Varig’s former employees, especially female flight attendants who joined the carrier in the 1970s and 1980s and remained until the closure of its activities. Alongside the testimonies of these employees, it analyses magazine and television advertisements from Varig and other Brazilian airlines, in order to throw some light on the pertinence of gender, class and race as social markers that structured the aviation field in the second half of the twentieth century. Through a critical perspective, this work launches heterodox interpretative challenges on the nation-building process, hoping thus to contribute to a better understanding of the political and ideological games that characterised the formation of the nation

Art · Aviation · Commercial aviation · Ideology · Media studies · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Race (biology · Sociology · Visual arts · Engineering · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Racism, and Human Rights

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub