EDUCATE BODIES, CUSTOMS AND SENSIBILITIES: NORTH AMERICAN CULTURAL PRACTICES AND INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT BRAZIL PUT INTO CIRCULATION BY THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

ABSTRACT: The inauguration of the Young Men's Christian Association in Brazil and the expansion of its formative project had an important attractive element: Protestantism. By the end of the nineteenth century, ideas, propositions and practices aligned with the religious structure of the Association were already circulating in the country. With the arrival of North American people and institutions in Brazil, living habits like those from the United States were promoted. It is possible to identify subtle and explicit elements employed by the YMCA to familiarize Brazilians to cultural practices, values, and the American way of life. In the representations produced about Brazil, the YMCA missionaries indicated the unfavorable conditions of the country, to introduce them as grounds for the resonance of the association's initiatives. The YMCA dynamics were to indicate limitations, but also to present alternative new customs, new practices, new sensibilities.