Singing contests in the ethnic enclosure of the post‐war Japanese‐Brazilian community

Dança do ventre em São Paulo

“…O Mercado Persa foi decisivo para a configuração da cena da dança do ventre em São Paulo, que hoje conta com mais de uma dezena de festivais anuais onde se pode "dançar, competir, comprar, fazer workshop e montar stands de venda" (LOLATO, s. d.). Competições, que em muitos contextos musicais podem ser essenciais para aproximar concorrentes (HOSOKAWA, 2000), não tiveram papel diferente aqui, aproximando não apenas bailarinas, mas também comerciantes, em um espaço único de exposição.…”

Making “Sense” of Identity

“…Since soccer is closely associated with Brazilian nationalism, the soccer teams also provided a way to claim Brazilian identity (Kertzer 1988). Singing groups for Japanese-Brazilians served a similar function by offering a venue for collective ethnic expression (Hosokawa 2000). While these studies make important contributions to the literature on ethnicity in Brazil, they do not investigate if and how the sensory experiences of these ethnically or nationally labeled activities are used to claim a hyphenated identity.…”

Mediated Crossroads: Identity, Youth Culture and Ethnicity, Theoretical and Methodological Challenges

“…Emsheimer (1956) considers all singing contests as important events for stimulating performance activities in many cultures since early times. From close-knit village festivities to large international spectacles broadcast on satellite television, they not only motivate singers and musicians but also bring excitement to the public because, as all games, they provide tension and uncertainty (Hosokawa, 2000). In these school song contests, two different cultural practices both related to media are observed: karaoke and Eurovision.…”

“…As Stokes (1994:5) puts it, "Music is socially meaningful… because it provides means by which people reorganise identities and places, and the boundaries which separate them". Through the use of a repertoire, these competitions often promote the preservation of the community's language, the expression of its sentiments, and the cultivation of its virtues (Hosokawa, 2000). But if we look closer, the repertoire of these competitions for young Filipinos, even the name of one of these (Pinoy Eurovision), has a transnational dimension that is most revealing in the sense that it sustains relations that not only link together their societies of origin (Philippines) and settlement (Greece and, broadly speaking, Europe) but also the global international music scene.…”