CULTURE-BRAZIL: Land of Grand Book Fairs and Poor Reading Habits

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 14 2003 (IPS) - The exuberance of the 11th Biennial International Book Fair, which opens Thursday in this Brazilian city, contrasts sharply with the limited domestic market for publishers and the weak reading habits of the population of Latin America’s giant.

On average, Brazilians buy less than two books per person a year, and sales are concentrated among a small elite which enjoys a higher educational level and larger incomes, according to the Brazilian Chamber of Books.

But the Biennial International Book Fair has grown steadily since it was created 20 years ago. This year it covers an area of 55,000 square metres, where 916 national and foreign publishing houses and services and graphics companies will have stands. At least 500,000 visitors are expected.

A total of 140 Brazilian writers and 17 foreign authors will be on hand to converse with readers, as part of a varied schedule of activities, which includes visits by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will take part in the inauguration, and by his ministers of culture and education, Gilberto Gil and Cristovam Buarque.

The goal of the National Syndicate of Book Publishers, which organised the Biennial Fair, is to sell 23 million reais (eight million dollars) worth of books during the 11-day event.

But the fair is just one island of abundance in a vast country of 171 people who read very little.

That is why ”this kind of event is important for expanding the market, which would be smaller without the biennial fairs,” the vice-president of the Brazilian Chamber of Books (CBL), Marino Lobello, told IPS.

On even-numbered years, the CBL holds its own Biennial Book Fairs in Sao Paulo – Brazil’s largest city – with a programme and public that are similar to the fairs held in Rio de Janeiro on the odd-numbered years.

A survey carried out in 2001 by the CBL and other concerned associations painted a discouraging ”Portrait of Reading Habits in Brazil”. Only one-third of the respondents over 14 who were not illiterate said they had read a book in the previous three months.

That indicated a potential domestic market for books of just 26 million people – similar to the size of the French market for books, although France’s population is one-third of Brazil’s.

”Three concomitant factors” stand in the way of the expansion of the Brazilian market, said Lobello, including cultural elements, such as the country’s strong ”oral tradition,” in contrast to Europe’s highly literate population, and the heavy popular penetration of radio and TV, he observed.

He also regretted that schools often discourage reading for enjoyment by introducing literature as an obligation.

Lobello said those who have a strong reading habit have generally acquired it by reading for enjoyment or entertainment.

Another obstacle faced by publishers in Brazil is that there are only around 5,000 businesses that sell books, if stationer’s shops, kiosks and other kinds of establishments that sell books as a secondary product are counted, while ”actual bookstores only number between 500 and 600,” he pointed out.

That means most Brazilian towns and villages have no bookstores or other businesses where people can purchase books, Lobello underlined.

Nor are there sufficient public libraries, although in recent years there have been efforts to open new ones in schools and in low-income neighbourhoods and shantytowns. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics reports that 21 percent of the country’s 5,560 municipalities had no library in 2001.

The third difficulty is economic. The immense majority of Brazilians cannot afford to buy books, or are not willing to dedicate part of their limited incomes to such purchases.

”The children of working-class parents in the United States buy five times more books than the sons and daughters of middle- class Brazilians,” Lobello noted.

The average number of books read by Brazilians, two per year, is half of the average read in neighbouring Argentina or Uruguay, according to the National Association of Bookstores.

That has a direct relation with the poor quality of education in Brazil. The annual national scholastic achievement tests show that 59 percent of students who completed fourth grade have difficulties reading – ”a tragedy,” in the words of Education Minister Buarque.

The annual achievement exams administered by the Education Ministry also demonstrate that a large part of those who finish primary school show poor reading comprehension.

Boosting reading habits requires action on several fronts by a broad partnership between the government, schools, the private sector, and civil society, says the CBL.

Book fairs, which Lobello described as ”essential” to that effort, will be promoted in a number of cities and towns in Brazil’s hinterland, through an agreement with the government of the southern state of Sao Paulo.

The Rio de Janeiro Biennial International Book Fair is doing its bit. In order to draw a wider public, it has invited famous writers this year, such as India-born British author Salman Rushdie, who faced a death sentence issued by Islamist fundamentalists in 1989 because of his book ”Satanic Verses”.

Best-selling U.S. author Scott Turow, known for his courtroom thrillers, Mexican screenwriter and novelist Guillermo Arriaga, Argentine cartoonist Maitena, and French art critic and writer Catherine Millet, who caused a scandal by publishing a memoir detailing her sex life, are other prominent guests who have confirmed their appearance at the fair.