[TimorLesteStudies] new article by Kelly Silva & Daniel Simião "Coping with' traditions'. The analysis of East-Timorese nation building from the,perspective of a certain anthropology made in Brazil"

[Kelly Cristiane da Silva]

SILVA, Kelly  and SIMIAO, Daniel. Coping with "traditions": the analysis 
of East-Timorese nation building from the perspective of a certain 
anthropology made in Brazil./Vibrant, Virtual Braz. Anthr./[online]. 
2012, vol.9, n.1, pp. 360-381. ISSN 1809-4341. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1809-43412012000100013.

Available at: 
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1809-43412012000100013&lng=en&nrm=iso

The purpose of this essay is twofold. First, we explore the extent to 
which certain practices in urban East Timor perceived as traditional may 
be associated to different ways of negotiating individual and collective 
identities while uncovering dilemmas of nation building and state 
formation. To this effect, we take into account specific variations of 
current practices in marriage negotiations in Dili, considering their 
structural role in forging local sociality. Based on repeated field 
trips, we contend that different discourses about "tradition" can be 
related to different ways in which one is positioned vis-à-vis the 
multiple symbolic elements available in current East-Timorese public 
spaces. As these different meanings of "tradition" also challenge public 
policies, their application may uncover different ideas about what a 
nation ought to be. Second, we ponder on the extent to which our 
specific focus is due to our background as Brazilian anthropologists, 
built around our dialogue with certain anthropological lines of analysis 
in Brazil, particularly those related to interethnic friction and the 
place of indigenous peoples in the national imagination, as well as 
those dedicated to such themes as cultural diversity, citizenship, and 
public policies in urban Brazil.

*Keywords :*East Timor; customary practices; nation building; 
anthropology; Brazil.



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