On a warm night in tropical Rio de Janeiro, the celebrities of the literary and cultural scene, dressed in gold-trimmed uniforms, stream into the palatial halls of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
They are called the “Immortals”: 40 of Brazil’s most famous living writers, academics, artists and intellectuals.
Despite their nickname, they are an elderly bunch with an average age of 80. They are also predominantly white and male – a controversial image in diverse, multicultural Brazil.
Founded in 1897, the Academy is the standard-bearer of Brazilian language and literature. Known for its stately headquarters and sacred rituals, it resembles the celebrated French Académie Francaise, which it was modeled on.
The occasion for this gala in April is the induction of the first indigenous member, the celebrated writer Ailton Krenak.
Breaking with tradition, 70-year-old Krenak wears a traditional beaded headband and is greeted by indigenous singers and dancers as he is granted “immortal” status.
“We are opening a new chapter,” he told journalists before the ceremony, which was filled to capacity.
“The Brazilian Academy of Letters is a centuries-old institution, but it has never included indigenous peoples or languages.”
Some say the academy needs to change faster.
“It was time for us to come here after 524 years,” said one of the participants, 63-year-old indigenous chief and linguist Jose Urutau Guajajara, referring to the year 1500, the year Portuguese explorers reached what is now Brazil.
“It is an elitist, Eurocentric institution.”
– Divided Nation –
Only five of the academy’s members are women. Two of the 40 are Afro-Brazilians, a small proportion in a country where 56 percent of the population identifies as black or mixed race.
“Immortals” keep their seat for life. When one dies, the members elect a successor.
The Academy’s current president, journalist Merval Pereira, says he wants to make the Academy more representative of Brazil.
In the year he took office in 2022, the Academy added Oscar-nominated actress Fernanda Montenegro and legendary singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil, who is black, to its ranks.
The critics were disappointed.
“Still no black women: the racism of the Brazilian Academy of Letters,” was the headline journalist Thais Rodrigues wrote in an article on the Afro-Brazilian news site Alma Preta after Gil’s election, recalling that the Academy had passed over the black writer Conceicao Evaristo in 2018.
Pereira, 74, says he is concerned that the academy is playing up “identity politics” in a country deeply divided between supporters of left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).
The Academy is financed largely by renting an office building next to its headquarters and has no political or government ties, but is legally empowered to set the rules of Brazilian Portuguese.
“Some people think identity politics is left-wing. That’s not what we do. We don’t vote for someone because they are black, white or Indian. What counts is their work,” Pereira told AFP.
“But we want to represent the cultural diversity of Brazil.”
– History of “bleaching” –
The founding president of the Academy was actually black: the popular writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis.
Born in 1839, almost half a century before Brazil abolished slavery, the grandson of former slaves, Machado was a literary genius and autodidact who contributed to the transformation of the modern novel.
However, many people are not aware that the founding father of Brazilian literature was black.
For years, his Afro-Brazilian facial features were downplayed in portraits – including the bust of him in the academy’s auditorium.
The academy is now working to reverse this “brightening,” Pereira said.
This includes a dark-skinned, digitally animated avatar of Machado who uses artificial intelligence to interact with visitors to the academy.
A group of two dozen predominantly black high school students from the Rio suburb of Nova Iguacu gathered around the large screen showing the avatar during a recent trip to the academy, a neoclassical building where the “immortals” give public lectures and meet for tea.
“As a black Brazilian who has struggled with adversity throughout his life, I firmly believe that valuing diversity is essential,” the avatar said.
“The Academy has a responsibility … to help create a fairer and more inclusive society.”
Aside from the AI-generated speeches, the students’ teacher, Ana Luisa Guimaraes, 39, said she would encourage them to think critically about their visit.
“If you look at the history of Brazilian literature … there should be a lot of black and indigenous writers here,” she said.
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