The reinvention of Brazil and other metamorphoses in the world of Chicago samba

Abstract

IntroductionUnlike Carmen Miranda and Antonio Carlos Jobim who came to the United States under the auspices of entrepreneurs strategically placed to integrate them into the cultural market, the immigrants in this article followed another trajectory. Many of them scarcely believed that they had the talents that immigrant life awoke in them. 2 The discovery of Brazil as a narrative and a market for samba drove many to occupations they never dreamed of. Despite the problems this narrative would bring them, these immigrants benefited from its existence and used it strategically to escape the destiny the market imposes on most immigrants, transforming them, as Sayad (1998) observed, into cheap labor rather than treating them as émigrés with different histories and dispositions.One can argue that, in the case of the Brazilian immigrants who exploit samba in Chicago, their integration, and that of those who negotiate their own culture, constantly emphasizes that they are above all émigrés. But more than this: their immigration seems to have more to do with the values and richness of their culture (in this case, nation) than with what is commonly 1 I thank Rémi Lavergne for the insights, suggestions and for wanting to see this article written. I also thank Rosemary Galli who kindly accepted to revise the English version and two anonymous Vibrant reviewers for their valuable comments made in an earlier version. bernadete beserra supposed to be their problem. In principle, this inverts the most common notion of immigration: that of searching in another place for what is lacking in your own. The problem, however, is that the country or culture that is represented by the immigrant who works with cultural goods is not in fact his country or his culture but the country or culture that is presented in the narratives that circulate about them in the country of destination.Like other narratives and discourses forged in the space of colonial domination, the narrative about Brazil is fed by stereotypes, which according to Bhabha (2007: 95), "must always be in excess of what can be empirically proved or logically construed". In this way, immigrants who work withBrazilian culture face the challenge of realizing the representations of Brazil created from this narrative and constructing their integration within these limits. Hence, they must dialog with these stereotypes and often reinforce them through their social practices. Their subjection to a narrative that precedes them and that tends to replace their own personal experiences makes these immigrants, like others, creatures rather than creators. In spite of this, the opportunity they have to manipulate their own culture, even if by displaying it superficially, puts these immigrants in a rather distinct position from others. Particularly, at least in the case of Chicago, because there is nothing predetermined about working with samba. On the contrary, it is a choice based on the observation of the existence of a narrative about Brazil and a market for samba.Miscegenation, racial ...

Ciências Sociais Hoje: Antropologia

“…Já Machado (2004; acompanhou as trajetórias de brasileiros no Porto, Portugal, que incorporavam estereótipos de brasilidade para garantir um lugar no "mercado da alegria", trabalhando preferencialmente como atendentes em restaurantes, bares, hotéis e comércio. Processos de racialização, exotização e de formação de "mercados étnicos" também foram foco dos estudos de Guizardi (2013) com brasileiros que transitam por meio das "redes da capoeira" na Espanha, e de Beserra (2011), em pesquisa sobre brasileiras e brasileiros que se movem por meio do mercado do samba, da capoeira e da Bossa Nova em Los Angeles (Beserra, 2003; e em Chicago (Beserra, 2011), nos Estados Unidos. Dias (2007;, por sua vez, investigou as experiências de latino-americanos (entre os quais os brasileiros), neozelandeses, australianos e jamaicanos que -contando com vistos temporários, contratos de trabalho precarizados e trajetórias e condições de vida bastante diversas -ocupavam posições hierarquicamente diferenciadas em um resort turístico de Vermont, nos Estados Unidos.…”