Helio R. S. Silva - Travesti a invencao do feminino etnografia

1993, Brazil, Portuguese,

Original title: "Travesti a invencao do feminino etnografia" (Travesti: The Invention of the Feminine – Ethnography) by Helio R. S. Silva.

Helio R. S. Silva has captured the attention of readers eager for fluid and engaging anthropological narratives with his book Travesti a invencao do feminino etnografia. The author presents an ethnography rooted in the Lapa neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, approached as a social space and bohemian territory, where the focus of the study is the travesti community. It is precisely in the perplexity this research provokes in readers that the importance of reflection emerges, compelling us to pause and consider the nuances of both the subject and the method.

 

The study is carefully delimited, encompassing reflections that extend beyond mere humanitarian concern into theoretical and methodological considerations that shape both fieldwork and ethnographic writing. Silva alerts readers to critical issues, including the ever-present relationship between travestis and the broader society, as well as the risks of exoticizing or folklorizing the people under study. These are not abstract concerns but concrete ethical and analytical reflections that guide the ethnographer in approaching a community whose visibility in society is often filtered through sensationalist or stereotypical lenses.

 

Interactions between travestis and wider society are not merely stated but illustrated through their everyday networks. Media figures, films, and press coverage could provide a superficial framing of how travestis are represented, yet Silva goes further by embedding them in their social and occupational milieus. They are shown in connection with bar owners, beauticians, police officers, curious onlookers, and the researcher herself. Through this lens, the ethnography demonstrates that travestis exist not apart from society but as active participants in its routines and rhythms, simultaneously shaping and being shaped by their environment. The book opens by exploring the overlap between Lapa and bohemia, noting historical iterations of malandragem, a concept of cunning and streetwise sophistication. Silva proposes that the travesti is a social transformation of the malandro, particularly evident in the ways dress and bodily presentation signify identity. This framing establishes the foundational hypothesis for the ethnography, linking historical notions of social performance with contemporary expressions of gender and sexuality.

 

Silva organizes the book around the temporal cycle of afternoon, night, and morning, each segment marked by its own rhythms and concerns. The afternoon situates readers within the social world of travestis, detailing their networks, bodily presentations, and aspirations. The night delves into the intensity of street life, portraying the strategies, risks, and encounters that define the work performed on the sidewalks. Morning provides a reflective vantage point, where travestis are considered outside the spectacle of performance, revealing the self-production involved in their identities. It is during this time that both researcher and subjects emerge from the immersive experience of fieldwork, facing the layered realities of social interaction and personal presentation.

 

The unpredictability of daily life permeates Silva’s narrative, capturing passions, obsessions, and survival strategies with the same meticulous attention that travestis devote to cultivating their femininity. Central to the text is the persistent question of identity: who are they? Answers are complicated by generational differences, intersecting desires, social expectations, and personal histories, resisting reductive definitions. Ultimately, Silva frames transvestitism as a transcondition, an identity continually negotiated and enacted, escaping simple categorization while making intuitive sense to the reader.

 

Through careful observation, Silva critiques the pathologization and moralizing frameworks often imposed upon travestis. He emphasizes that the central labor of travestis is the correction and crafting of their own bodies, reflecting an ongoing process of modification and self-determination. The text reveals how they negotiate masculinity and femininity, navigate societal judgment, and engage in embodied practices such as hormone therapy, silicone implants, and surgeries. This negotiation is both strategic and aesthetic, reflecting a complex interplay between social expectation, personal desire, and bodily transformation. The book’s dual merit lies in its immersive yet critically informed approach. Silva integrates emic explanations without clashing with his subjects, while the footnotes provide insight into the collaborative and discursive nature of ethnographic research. Readers are invited to witness the interplay between fieldwork, theoretical reflection, and scholarly dialogue, dismantling the myth of the isolated researcher. The footnotes illuminate seminar discussions, researcher insights, and the process of translating field observations into ethnographic analysis, highlighting the collaborative and iterative nature of social science work.

 

Travesti a invencao do feminino etnografia is a text that challenges readers to reconsider assumptions about gender, performance, and social life. It demands engagement with the complexities of identity, ethics, and method, offering a rich ethnographic account that is at once meticulous, reflective, and compelling. Silva’s work demonstrates that ethnography can be both rigorous and readable, revealing the lived realities of travestis in Lapa while offering profound reflections on the construction of selfhood in socially visible spaces. The book leaves readers with an enduring sense of the layered, performative, and negotiated nature of identity, encouraging thoughtful consideration of the relationships between body, society, and culture.

Available via scielo.br