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Over time, Brazil has evolved into a well-defined nation with a strong sense of identity. From the natural beauty of the Amazon River to the exciting resort city of Rio de Janeiro, from soccer champion Pelé to classical musician Villa Lobos, Brazil is known as a distinctive, diverse country. This book provides a well-rounded, brief history of Brazil that uniquely focuses on both the politics and culture of the republic. Colin MacLachlan uses a political narrative to frame the evolution of national culture and the formation of national identity. He evaluates Brazilian myths, stereotypes, and icons such as soccer and dancing as part of the historical analysis. A History of Modern Brazil will inform and entertain students in courses on Brazil and modern Latin America.
An analysis of how Afro-Chilean performers of music and dance in Arica frame their Blackness in regards to other performers. Chile had long forgotten about the existence of the country’s Black population when, in 2003, the music and dance called the tumbe carnaval appeared on the streets of the city of Arica. Featuring turbaned dancers accompanied by a lively rhythm played on hide-head drums, the tumbe resonated with cosmopolitan images of what the African Diaspora looks like, and so helped bring attention to a community seeking legal recognition from the Chilean government which denied its existence. Tumbe carnaval, however, was not the only type of music and dance that Afro-Chileans have...
Few Mexican musicians in the twentieth century achieved as much notoriety or had such an international impact as the popular singer and songwriter Agustín Lara (1897-1970). Widely known as "el flaco de oro" ("the Golden Skinny"), this remarkably thin fellow was prolific across the genres of bolero, ballad, and folk. His most beloved "Granada", a song so enduring that it has been covered by the likes of Mario Lanza, Frank Sinatra, and Placido Domingo, is today a standard in the vocal repertory. However, there exists very little biographical literature on Lara in English. In Agustín Lara: A Cultural Biography, author Andrew Wood's informed and informative placement of Lara's work in a broade...
Examines how in the middle of the twentieth century, Bahian elites began to recognize African-Bahian cultural practices as essential components of Bahian regional identity. Previously, public performances of traditionally African-Bahian practices such as capoeira, samba, and Candomblé during carnival and other popular religious festivals had been repressed in favor of more European traditions.
This comprehensive survey examines Latin American music, focusing on popular—as opposed to folk or art—music and containing more than 200 entries on the concepts and terminology, ensembles, and instruments that the genre comprises. The rich and soulful character of Latin American culture is expressed most vividly in the sounds and expressions of its musical heritage. While other scholars have attempted to define and interpret this body of work, no other resource has provided such a detailed view of the topic, covering everything from the mambo and unique music instruments to the biographies of famous Latino musicians. Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music delivers scholarly, autho...
Although Brazil is home to the largest African diaspora, the religions of its African descendants have often been syncretized and submerged, first under the force of colonialism and enslavement and later under the spurious banner of a harmonious national Brazilian character. Relocating the Sacred argues that these religions nevertheless have been preserved and manifested in a strategic corpus of shifting masks and masquerades of Afro-Brazilian identity. Following the re-Africanization process and black consciousness movement of the 1970s to 1990s, Afro-Brazilians have questioned racial democracy, seeing how its claim to harmony actually dispossesses them of political power. By embracing African deities as a source of creative inspiration and resistance, Afro-Brazilians have appropriated syncretism as a means of not only popularizing African culture but also decolonizing themselves from the past shame of slavery. This book maps the role of African heritage in—and relocation of the sacred to—three sites of Brazilian cultural production: ritual altars, literature, and carnival culture.
Chico Buarque comprises a critical appreciation of the self-titled album (1978), which is one of the Brazilian artist's most representative. This vibrant collection displays the singer-songwriter's singular talents as a composer/poet of songs with both popular appeal and keen analytical skills. The 11 tracks include both up-beat sambas and lyrical compositions: witty tunes, dramatic laments, international items, and, especially, epochal protest songs with fascinating histories. The album embodies Chico Buarque's affective sensibilities and sociopolitical engagement, and this book situates the album in inter-related contexts: the artist's own career; the evolution of the current he represents MPB (Brazilian Popular Music); and, especially, historical conjuncture-the period of military dictatorship in Brazil, 1964-85.
The analyses of German and Brazilian cultures found in this book offer a much-needed rethinking of the intercultural paradigm for the humanities and literary and cultural studies. This collection examines cultural interactions between Germany and Brazil from the Early Modern period to the present day, especially how authors, artists and other intellectuals address the development of society, intervene in the construction and transformation of cultural identities, and observe the introduction of differing cultural elements in and beyond the limits of the nation. The contributors represent various academic disciplines, including German Studies, Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies, Cultural Studies, Li...
Provides a comprehensive modern biographical survey of homosexuality in the Western world. Among those included are:* controversial political activists - Peter Tatchell; Guy Hocquenghem; Harvey Milk* pop icons - David Bowie; k d lang; Boy George* groundbreaking artists, writers and filmmakers - Pier Paolo Pasolini; Derek Jarman; David Hockney* intellectuals who have shaped and changed the modern understanding of sexuality - Michel Foucault; Simone de Beauvoir; Alfred Kinsey* over 500 entries - clear, informative and enjoyable to read - build up a superbly thorough overview of gay and lesbian life in our time.