What is America?

Happy Monday everyone!  So today I wanted to write about a quick cultural note that I have been coming back to on and on again since arriving here in Brazil.

If any of you have been to Latin America for an extended period of time, I guarantee you think of the word "America" differently than when you left home.

To most people living in the United States and Europe, "America" is a shortcut term used to refer to the United States itself.  "Americans" are therefore people who live in the United States by this definition.

Let's just say, the second I looked at my Brazilian visa and saw my nationality was listed as "North American," I knew the concept of "America" was different here.

Once in a while you will hear people refer to people in the United States as "Americans," but only when stating that they inhabit part of the American continent.  When talking specifically, Brazilians refer to us as "North Americans."  I noticed this every single time I said I was "Americano" but then I was corrected by Brazilians who said I was in fact "Norte-Americano."  This also occurred when I made comments about Americans or American culture, and this would be followed by "But wait, we're Americans too! Brazil is part of America!"

Part of this stems back to schooling.  In the United States and Europe, we are generally taught that there are seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica and Australia.  In Latin America, North and South America are generally grouped together to form the continent of America.  Anyone from this continent is considered, well, "American."  I have legitimately tried explaining the seven-continent model to one of my roommates and he could not wrap his head around it.  It's simply a cultural difference that is engrained into us when we are young.

Here is a visual representation of the map most Brazilians tend to learn in school.  Notice how North and South America are combined.  This was the first result that popped up on Google Images when I searched "Continentes do Mundo"  ("Continents of the World" in Portuguese).

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Given that, when you say "America," most people here in Brazil see it as a region and not a specific country.  Actually, it can be considered pretty offensive and imperialist to refer to the United States itself as America and its residents as the only true "Americans."  This gives the impression that the United States is the only country within the Americas which really matters.

Since previously I had only lived in places where the terms "America" and "United States" were synonymous, this cultural habit I have picked up in Brazil has really made me more conscious about this cultural faux-pas which I never really knew existed. In addition, it has taught me that children in schools within different countries may have very difficult perspectives on the "truths" we consider to be true in the United States (such as the existence of seven continents).

Needless to say, when someone asks me what country I am from - I say the United States.  It's more appropriate, more widely-accepted, and I don't need to jump through all of the cultural hula hoops that come into play when I say I'm "American."

If you go to Brazil or anywhere else in Latin America, I highly suggest you do the same.