A Mulatto Brazil - The narrative of the Dionysian character of Brazilian society in the 2014 FIFA World Cup

The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil conveyed – by its slogan, mascot, posters and ceremonies – the idea of a Mulatto Brazil (an inventive and festive nation under the sign of two idiosyncratic worlds). We argue that such a reference – based on the duality between Dionysius and Apollo (as contemplated by Nietzsche and brought to the context of Brazil and football by Freyre) – was used as a means of bringing forward an idea of the exceptionality of Brazilian society (based on nationalist concepts of ethnicity) to attract tourists, ease social tensions and justify the event’s costs.