The Mystery of Samba

Popular Music and National Identity in Brazil

Nonfiction, History, Americas, South America, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture
Cover of the book The Mystery of Samba by Hermano Vianna, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Hermano Vianna ISBN: 9780807898864
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: November 9, 2000
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Hermano Vianna
ISBN: 9780807898864
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: November 9, 2000
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Samba is Brazil's "national rhythm," the foremost symbol of its culture and nationhood. To the outsider, samba and the famous pre-Lenten carnival of which it is the centerpiece seem to showcase the country's African heritage. Within Brazil, however, samba symbolizes the racial and cultural mixture that, since the 1930s, most Brazilians have come to believe defines their unique national identity.
But how did Brazil become "the Kingdom of Samba" only a few decades after abolishing slavery in 1888? Typically, samba is represented as having changed spontaneously, mysteriously, from a "repressed" music of the marginal and impoverished to a national symbol cherished by all Brazilians. Here, however, Hermano Vianna shows that the nationalization of samba actually rested on a long history of relations between different social groups--poor and rich, weak and powerful--often working at cross-purposes to one another.
A fascinating exploration of the "invention of tradition," The Mystery of Samba is an excellent introduction to Brazil's ongoing conversation on race, popular culture, and national identity.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Samba is Brazil's "national rhythm," the foremost symbol of its culture and nationhood. To the outsider, samba and the famous pre-Lenten carnival of which it is the centerpiece seem to showcase the country's African heritage. Within Brazil, however, samba symbolizes the racial and cultural mixture that, since the 1930s, most Brazilians have come to believe defines their unique national identity.
But how did Brazil become "the Kingdom of Samba" only a few decades after abolishing slavery in 1888? Typically, samba is represented as having changed spontaneously, mysteriously, from a "repressed" music of the marginal and impoverished to a national symbol cherished by all Brazilians. Here, however, Hermano Vianna shows that the nationalization of samba actually rested on a long history of relations between different social groups--poor and rich, weak and powerful--often working at cross-purposes to one another.
A fascinating exploration of the "invention of tradition," The Mystery of Samba is an excellent introduction to Brazil's ongoing conversation on race, popular culture, and national identity.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Politics of Medicine in Nineteenth-Century America by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Race, Nation, and Empire in American History by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Learn to Cook 25 Southern Classics 3 Ways by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Working with Class by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book The Alabama and the Kearsarge by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Into the Sound Country by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Writing Reconstruction by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Mutiny at Fort Jackson by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Moral Reconstruction by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book The United States and Fascist Italy, 1922-1940 by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book A Deplorable Scarcity by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Decolonizing Feminisms by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book Journal of the Civil War Era by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book The Land Has Memory by Hermano Vianna
Cover of the book "Redneck Woman" and the Gendered Poetics of Class Rebellion by Hermano Vianna
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy