Discovering South in Rio

17/03/2021 28 min

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Episode Synopsis

In 1979 Elleke, then a 17 year old woman, travelled from South Africa to Brazil. She only stayed three days in the South American country, but the colours, sounds, and tastes of Rio left a long-lasting impression on her. Elleke, coming from the wrapped political and racial state of Apartheid South Africa, discovered a certain sense of South in Rio. In this episode, Elleke, now a Professor of World Literature in English, reflects on the scarcity of south-south links at the time, and how that has changed.