Vivendo "nu" paraíso: comunidade, corpo e amizade na Colina do Sol

Abstract

Naturism in Brazil becomes organized as a movement since the end of the eighties. Nearly ten years later, the first naturist community in Latin America the Colina do Sol is created in Rio Grande do Sul. The foundation of this community constitutes a cornerstone in Brazilian naturism, strengthening the main values propagated by this movement: a return to a human essence lost with modernity. In this thesis, I try to discuss the three central aspects which sustain this proposal, which is profoundly anchored on XIXth century s romantic values. Each of these aspects are in turn opposed to characteristics attributed to modern societies: a return to collective life, in contrast to metropolitan anonymity; the purity and egalitarianism of naked bodies, as a denial of hedonism and bodily cultivation; and the emphasis on pure and uninterested friendship, as opposed to the individualism of cold and interested relations. I have avoided taking Colina do Sol as homogenous whole and have attempted to identify how these central aspects may be seen as discourses deployed in the power relations which cut across this community