Neo-ethnic Self-Styling among Young Indigenous People of Brazil: Re-Appropriating Ethnicity through Cultural Hybridity

Auto-estilização Neo-étnica entre Jovens Indígenas do Brasil: a reapropriação da etnicidade por meio do hibridismo cultural

Abstract

This article examines a conspicuous, vastly disseminating cultural practice among the young Indigenous people of Brazil to hybridize their ethnic motifs with global fashion in order to classify their glocal mode of being. Young Indigenous subjects generally perceive the modal practice to be ethnically appropriating in their own generational right. Through ethnographic observations coupled with theoretical reflections on cultural hybridity, the authors will highlight how neo-ethnic fashion enables initially marginalized category of Indigenous ethnicity to be brought to public attention on a global scale. Neo-ethnic self-styling operates as a means to re-appropriate heritage in trans-traditional ways at a time when ethnicity itself is increasingly becoming a globally trendy subject. Social networking service plays a crucial role in disseminating the phenomena across different ethnic groups.

Keywords:
neo-ethnic fashion; indigeneity; cultural hybridity; Indigenous people of Brazil; postcolonialism