The Politics of Aesthetic Debate: The Case of Brazilian Carnival

Taylor, Julie M.

doi:10.2307/3773761

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…It is interesting to observe how the temporal changes in the dance reflected some of the major changes involved in the timescape of kalsa, supported by those who wished to promote tourism as well as cultural unity. See J. M. Taylor (1982) for a comparable debate about how the aesthetics of a dance involved political interests and had political consequences, but in a very different cultural and political settingin this case, Brazilian carnival.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Times of the Other: The Temporalities of Ethnographic Fieldwork

Otto¹

2013

Social Analysis

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Anthropologists working in a culturally unfamiliar field site carry out an experiment in time by interacting with people who do not share a common cultural past with them. Their real time interaction will therefore engender miscommunications and interpretative breakdowns. The 'invisibility' of temporal patterns results from the tendency of human consciousness to focus on difference and forget repetition. This article argues that the methodological intervention of ethnographic fieldwork is to transform repetition into difference by participating in events over a period of time. Building on the premise that anthropologists and their collaborators often act from different temporal orientations or 'timescapes', the article suggests that similar differences develop within societies between actors in different life situations and representing different cultural interests and traditions. Only through the long-term study of a particular group of people can the complexity and dynamics of different timescapes be discerned.

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Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Times of the Other: The Temporalities of Ethnographic Fieldwork

Otto¹

2013

Social Analysis

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“…Judy Taylor [1982], for example, discusses the impact of middle-class values on the pre-Lenten celebration, expressed in the outsider tastes of state officials, parade judges, and carnavalescos, and in the proselytizing, populist interests of bicheiros (illegal-gambling lords). Bicheiros, in particular, have a vested interest in attracting large numbers of participants to the school of their patronage.…”

Section: From National Culture To Cultural Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Is the Carnivalesque in Rio's Carnaval? Samba,Mulatasand Modernity

Pravaz¹

2008

Visual Anthropology

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This article chronicles the historical normalization of carnaval parades and samba performances in Rio de Janeiro, by looking at the progressive standardization of audiovisual imagery fueled by a nationalistic project based on cultural appropriation. Afro-Brazilian performance traditions have come to stand for Brazilian national identity since at least the 1930s, and practices of visual consumption such as shows de mulata (spectacles where Afro-Brazilian women dance the samba) have elevated ''mixed-race'' women to be icons of Brazilianness. While these practices have de-emphasized grotesque excess in order to fit scopophilic drives, they have failed to secure a firm grip over performers' experiences. BACK TO SCHOOLIt is summertime in Rio and I am here pursuing fieldwork on the staging of AfroBrazilian cultural performance and its role in the formation of modern national identity. Every year before Lent, Rio is witness to several consecutive days of revelry, including massive carnaval parade spectacles involving some 30,000 performers each evening. These parades are put on by local crews known as escolas de samba (samba schools). Each school, in turn, is subdivided into wings, each with its own special costumes.In exchange for getting a costume free, the director of my school, Unidos da Cereja (Cherry Union), asked the members of my wing to produce a special performance and run for the estandarte de ouro (gold banner), a special prize given to certain categories in the parade, in this case for best wing choreography. 1 The school's carnavalesco (parade coordinator) created special choreography for us, incorporating into the parade a giant facial portrait of a local musician being celebrated in the school's enredo (central theme or plot). 2 Accordingly, my wing has exactly 165 members, and each of us carries a 30-by-40-inch plastic plaque with a small part of the giant picture stamped on one side, and the full picture of one of the senior members of the school on the other. During the parade, the members are positioned geometrically to form a giant human rectangle composed of 15 rows of 11 people each. Taking our cue from the chorus NATASHA PRAVAZ is assistant professor of anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she teaches courses on performance practices and on popular culture in Latin America. Her research focuses on gender, national identity, and processes of racialization in Brazil.

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“…Luego de la independencia el Camaval se convirtio en una fuente de simbolos nacionales (Hill, 1972). Como el Camaval de Rio, se convierte en una arena donde se debate la cuestion de una identidad nacional autenticamente trinitaria (da Matta, 1979;da Matta, 1981;Taylor, 1982). Esto contribuyo a que paradojicamente la elite, que era muy consciente de su status, tradujera los simbolos culturales de las capas populares en expresiones de unidad nacional en una sociedad altamente estratificada.…”

Section: El Carnaval De Las Indias Occidentalesunclassified

Los rituales públicos y la politización de la etnicidad en Nueva York

Freidenberg

Kasinitz²

1990

Desarrollo Económico

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The Politics of Aesthetic Debate: The Case of Brazilian Carnival

Cited by 14 publications

References 7 publications

Times of the Other: The Temporalities of Ethnographic Fieldwork

Times of the Other: The Temporalities of Ethnographic Fieldwork

Where Is the Carnivalesque in Rio's Carnaval? Samba,Mulatasand Modernity

Los rituales públicos y la politización de la etnicidad en Nueva York

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