Southern Illinois University Carbondale
OpenSIUC Honors Theses
University Honors Program
12-1-2003
Samba, Capoeira, Malandragem and National Identity: the Contradictions of a Racial Democracy Edward Pablo de Sa Sauerbrunn
Recommended Citation de Sa Sauerbrunn, Edward Pablo, "Samba, Capoeira, Malandragem and National Identity: the Contradictions of a Racial Democracy" (2003). Honors Theses. Paper 249. http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/uhp_theses/249
This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Honors Program at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact
[email protected].
ANTH 480 Senior Thesis
Samba, Capoeira, Malandragem and National Identity: The
contradictions of a Racial Democracy
Edward Pablo de Sa Sauerbrunn
Dr. Hill
December 8, 2003
Abstract I intend to describe the process through which Brazilian National Identity was created beginning in the l820s with the proclamation of independence, up to the 1930's with the advent of industrialization and culturalism. I'will bring up terms such as samba, Capoeira, Malandragem and the Jeitinho Brasileiro (Brazilian Way). There will be a brief history of samba, a description of Malandragem dialectics, and also Capoeira, the Brazilian dance/fight. Ultimately, the purpose of this paper is to define what Brazilian National identity is, while throughout the paper pointing out the contradictions and the reasons behind those contradictions of the mythical racial democracy, Brazil. Samba, Capoeira, Malandragem, jeitinho brasileiro, slavery, racism, whitening, proclamation of independence, myth of racial democracy, industrialization.
Samba, Capoeira, Malandragem and National Identity: The contradictions of a Racial Democracy In a country with so much ethnic diversity such as Brazil, to determine national identity is not so easy. To solve such a problem, Brazilians decided that in order for such a diverse population to become a nation, racial admixture would have to take place. That way, by mixing the three races-white, black and Indian, a Brazilian race came into existence. This process of racial admixture has happened both in the physical and ideological realms from the beginning of times long before Brazil was a nation but especially after it became one. It is a process that still takes place nowadays as meanings of national identity are redefined and renegotiated on a daily basis.
To understand how this process took place a brief
history of Brazil will follow. In 1822, Brazil proclaimed independence from Portugal. However, to make this separation formal, various measures had to be taken.
The first immediate measures taken were the
establishment of law and medical schools, which solved the most primary legal and health problems.
The next measures to be
taken were ideological in nature and required a definition of Brazil as a nation. Racial admixture played a central role in this process of definition.
A process that however contradictorily, was based
on racist principles of 'deracialization' or 'whitening, prevalent in Brazilian society still today.
At the time, there
was a widespread idea in the population that the African race would dwindle through this racial mixing and by these means the Brazilian race would somehow ameliorate. These whitening ideals were also expressed by the government who engaged in a 'whitening' policy in the devising of Immigration laws. After the establishment of the Republic in 1889, with the reopening of immigration, blacks and Asians were excluded of admittance as conditioned by Congress. Also, many social theorists in the history of Brazil expressed these whitening ideals, some of them even went to the extent of speaking of extinction of the African race. Among these was Lacerda, a Brazilian social theorist from early in the twentieth century, who in one of his works stated: Thanks to this process of ethnic reduction it is logical to suppose that, in the beginning of this new century, the mestizos will have disappeared from Brazil, a fact that coincides with the parallel extinction of the black race among us (Schwarcz, 1995). Even though Lacerda not less than expressed widespread whitening ideals in Brazil, he broke the rules of a 'racial democracy', where openly expressed racism cannot exist. Furthermore, he expressed feelings of uttermost exclusionism of
2
African culture and race, something not shared by most of the Brazilian population.
Later in the 1930s, with its theoretical basis on Boas' North American culturalism, Gilberta Freyre, opposed the openly racist viewpoint of Lacerda. He proposed a more optimistic ideology where racial admixture is a source of pride and not shame in national heritage. In his famous work 'Casa & Sensala' of 1933, he expresses those feelings:
nIt was the study of Anthropology under orientation of professor Boas that first revealed to me the true value of blacks and the mulattos-apart from their racial traits, the effects of the environment and the cultural experience. N (Schwarcz, 1995) 'More than any other people, they are developing a modern civilization in the tropics, whose predominant traits are European, but whose perspectives-I should insist on this point-are extraEuropean.' (Browning, 1995). Freyre's work became popular but merely because he voiced the views of the population, that even though praised African culture, was racist in nature. Although he wrote about the pride of having African culture as part of national identity, he still praised the fact the predominant traits were European, that way merely reflecting racist contemporaneous values.
3
In voicing the population's ideals,
Freyre perpetuated the
myth of the racial democracy. A myth that even though is part of a national identity and helps preserve national unity, it nonetheless maintains current racial relations.
Since on the
account of the myth racism does not exist in Brazilian society, any attempt for social reformation in this aspect is hindered. Notwithstanding, the myth has had its uses. With the advent of industrialism and globalization in the 1930s, the myth of a racial democracy played a fundamental role in defining a national identity.
During that period, the nationalistic
president Getulio Vargas greatest concern was to elevate Brazil as a nation in an increasingly globalized world. In resorting to the myth he managed to redefine national identity and simultaneously, managed to promote nationalism and patriotism.
During the same time period in this atmosphere of definition of a national identity, there was an increasing tolerance of African culture by the white elite and the population in general.
By 'adopting' aspects of the Afro-
Brazilian culture the people of Brazil managed to express the values of a racial democracy and at the same time define Brazilian nationality.
Soon after, Samba, Capoeira and
Malandragem became 'adopted' aspects and part of a national identity.
4
The purpose of this paper is to define national identity as well as to explain how this process of 'adoption' of African culture took place in Brazil. In taking an ideological as well as an economic perpective it also intends to explore the contradictions of a racial democracy in 'adopting' African culture as part of national identity considering slavery was the basis of its economic system up until 1888 and where African Brazilians to this day suffer the consequences. The paper will be divided into two main sections.
First, a
detailed history of the role of racial admixture in the construction of national identity.
This will be subdivided in
to two subsections-the origin of a Brazilian mixed race and national identity in the 1820s and the role of race in the formation of national identity in the 1930s.
Next there will be a section dealing with Afro-Brazilian culture and national identity which will be subdivided into three subsections those being Samba, Malandragem and Capoeira.
Samba will be subdivided into a brief introduction and definition, followed by the history of the origin of Samba, then the growing importance of it in the 1930s, and finally during the Vargas regime, the 'adoption' of Samba as part of national identity.
5
The section on Malandragem will be subdivided into three parts, the connection of Samba and Malandragem, followed by a definition of Malandro, dialectics.
Then
t~o
and a description of Malandragem
mOre subsections, one explaining about
Malandragem and industrialism in the 1930s and the succeeding is about race and Malandragem.
To finish it up the last section
will be on Capoeira and Malandragem as the expression of violence and tactics of false submission.
RACE AND NATIONAL IDENTITY History and the creation of a Brazilian mixed race In trying to explain culture through history one may find problems in connecting the past and the future in a way that makes sense.
Diachrony and sinchrony are placed in opposing
sides and understanding of change is made complex.
As a result,
there is a need to understand structure and history, where not only the construction and deconstruction of meaning is important but also the context in which that meaning is inserted (Schwarcz, 1995).
The context is the time period of emancipated Brazil after 1822. Authorities felt that to make official the separation from Portugal, legal and ideological measures were to be promptly taken. After establishing medical and law schools and equipping
6
the country with doctors and lawyers, it was necessary to build a national identity. With that in mind, a third institution was created, the Brazilian Historical and Geographic Institute, that had the resolution to create a history and identity for Brazil.
With this intent, IHGB(Instituto Historico-Geografico Brasileiro) promoted a contest in 1844 in which the title was "How to write the History of Brazil". in the fact that it'was
~
The result was unexpected
German man by the name of Karl von
Martius that won the contest.
On his winning essay he defended the idea that Brazilian history and identity was intrinsically connected to that of racial admixture. This was the first time the idea of having a Brazilian mixed race was made public--a race born out of a racial mix of the three races, black, white and indian. From that point on racial mixture was part of every Brazilian's heritage. The 1930s, race and national identity
With the advent of Culturalism in Brazil in the 1920s, racial models of analysis started to be severely criticized. Differences between racial groups could no longer be explained biologically but instead socially and/or culturally.
7
With that in mind, racial traits were no longer valid and were considered merely superficial. As a result, Brazilianists and supporters of the myth had to resort to a different strategy in constructing national
~dentity.
In addition to those changes, there was a perceptible shift in the attitude of Brazilians towards Brazil's African heritage. Most intellectuals no longer rejected it as a dangerous menace to society, and instead began to view it as an integral part of Brazilian society (Shaw, 1999). Expressing those changes and values of the Brazilian society in the 1930s, Gilberto Freyre a Brazilian social theorist, wrote Casa & Senzala, based on the culturalist view of Franz Boas.
In this book he portrayed racial admixture as an
outcome of success.
In his view all Brazilians were in the
soul, if not in the soul and body, racially mixed. So in this atmosphere Brazil 'adopted' many aspects of African Brazilian culture as part of a national identity. Among them were Samba, Malandragem and Capoeira, which in the following next sections, be described in detail.
AFRICAN BRAZILIAN CULTURE AND NATIONAL IDENTITY Brief definition of Samba, Capoeira and Malandragem Samba is characterized by syncopation, a word that also translates to Malandragem.
It is a music term that describes a
8
musical phenomenon where the strong beat is suspended and the weak accentuated.
To African Brazilians it is a tangential
moment in music and a possibility to dissimulate--a tactic of false submission where European tonal system was honored but at the same time destabilized rhythmically (Teixeira, 2003).
Capoeira is a dance/fight characterized by equilibrium, both in the physical as in the ideological aspect.
It is about
keeping equilibrium. and maintaining the equipoise necessary for dealing with one's daily problems by using tactic of false submission.
Malandragem translates into syncopation and ginga, the 'waist-game' of the capoeirista or the Capoeira player. It is the language Brazilians speak and the means through which social relations are built and maintained. It is the name given to the tactics of false submission used in both Capoeiraand Samba, as they respectively use Ginga and Syncopation to express it.
SAMBA
Origins of Samba To understand Brazilian National Identity, it is necessary to understand the origins of samba. A detailed explanation of the history of samba will proceed in this section.
9
The term Samba came from the Kimbundu word Semba, used to refer to the 'umbigada' dance step, which
literally means 'bump
with the belly button'; a common feature all modalities of batuques have, a general term used by the Portuguese to refer to the circle dance performed by the slaves of Brazil's colonial plantations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
It was
a dance embued with spiritual force and used to desguise religious rituals and is thought to directly descend Samba. Later, in the eighteenth century they performed the calundus or lundus which also had religious significance and were for bringing good luck. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, while slaves continued to participate in the batuque, free blacks had developed an accompaniment to the dance--the viola-a Portuguese guitar taken to Brazil by the Jesuits the beginning of Samba.
(Shaw,
1996).
This was
They put together a sound that honored
the European tonal system but by infiltrating their timing they created a music of their own.
Early twentieth century and the growing importance of Samba
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the importance of Samba was growing among the African Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro.
Hilaria Batista de Almeida, or Tia Ciata, one of the
most famous mae-de-santo or priestess, organized meetings
10
between musicians in her house. In those meetings, dance games and music were performed in the front part of the house whereas religious ceremonies were practiced in secret in the back. Among the musicians that came to these meetings include Sinho, the father of Samba, and Pinxinguinha, a famous Samba composer. So, in this environment early samba was born, an identity marker of the poor and black in the beginning of the twentieth century and a means black Brazilians found to be able to express their culture in a hostil"e, racist society such as that of Brazil during that period. However, it was not always easy for Afro-Brazilians to express themselves. In 1904, the blacks living in town, were driven out to shantytowns in an operation named 'bota-abaixo', which literally means 'knocking down'.
Buildings where these
poor blacks lived, were demolished to create a central avenue, a symbol of civilization and cleasing or whitening of Brazilian society. Nevertheless, some blacks were left back in the city.
As a
result, by the 19205, Af;ican-Brazilian were divided into two groups--those of the shantytowns and those of the central city, each with their own style of Samba. The former was persecuted by the police and considered to be marginal to society, the latter was tolerated by the authorities and their culture was given a respectable label of 'Afro-Brazilian Culture' .
11
As time went by, African Culture was becoming more accepted. By 1932, the Afro-festival named Carnival, was sponsored by the government and became a national practice.
As the importance of
Carnival grew, so did the acceptance of it by the white elite. And so, gradually Carnival music, for the most part Samba, became part of a national identity and African culture further gained importance as part of national heritage.
Vargas, Estado Novo, Samba and redefinition of a National Identity
Whenever the president Getulio Vargas came to power in 1930, a significant industrial development took place.
Legislation
was created such as the Law of Nationalization of Labour where two thirds of the workforce of every firm had to be Brazilian nationals (Shaw, 1999). Brazil was becoming a nationalistic industrial society. Vargas, also nicknamed 'pai dos pobres'-'Father of the poor' had nationwide support especially of that of the working classes.
He represented the new developed state of Brazil. A
state that was perceived as responsible for the morality of the nation and capable of redressing Brazil's backwardness in relation to the developed world (Shaw, 1999). That strong an administration culminated in the Estado Novo established in 1937, an authoritarian government that proposed an organized nationalistic regime-it was the prelude to the
12
beginning of a military takeover, which took later in time.
A
quote from the Newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo, April 19, 1942 describes the ambience and the people's feelings towards Vargas and the nation in early 1940s:
It is thanks to the admirable order in which we live, in perfect moral and material balance, that our country has become an exception in the turbulent world of 1942. We feel the least possible repercussions of the conflagration ... Thanks to this man of foresight the disturbances that Brazil has experienced have not left indelible marks. More than just the president of the Republic, he is the head of the Brazilian family. He shows most affection towards those who suffer most. (Shaw, 1996). A sense of national unity and harmony was present and the need for symbols of that integration came along with it. Realizing that, the main concern in the Vargas administration was the state's role in helping build a national identity which would help maintain an authoritarian government such as the one of Brazil in the 1930s. In order to create
~
nationalistic sense in the population,
the government realized they needed a mass communication system to do so.
So they used the radio and by doing so they reached
the population at a national level.
It was an efficient
solution and served its purpose to popularize the state and promote national integration.
13
On the radio, every night in the Hora do Brasil (Time of Brazil), a
program was broadcasted between Bpm and 9pm.
It was
political propaganda that encouraged support to the state of Vargas and the union of a heterogenous, eclectic Brazilian people. During the intervals of the political propaganda in the Hora do Brasil, a compiled set of samba lyrics, set up by the DIP (Press and Propaganda Department), was played on the radio. So that way, Samba was used on national public radio and gradually was recognized at a national level, thus becoming a national symbol.
Malandragem Samba and Malandraqem
OWe can say that Brazilian music was born in the °loose" cradle, on the edge of hard work. It finds its origin and formation in the unlawful space, propitious of the °dialectics of the Malandragem". The genesis of the Brazilian popular music happened in this same place of oscillations between order and disorder, in the artfulness and malice of the °malandragem" of the end of the Brazilian Empire ... " (Teixeira, 2003).
Samba is syncopated rhythm that was born under the ethos of Malandragem. Syncopation js a tactic of dissimulation or false submission, where the African Brazilians honored the European 14
tonal system or culture, but destabilized it syncopation or malandragem.
through
It is a Malandro language, a means
to play by and deny rules of society through deceit.
A way that
the oppressed black Brazilians have found through music, to indirectly confront their oppressors in a peaceful, non confrontational manner. In other words, Samba is Malandragem and Malandragem is Samba.
Definition of Malandro Malandro is a trickster, a bohemian but with its own uniquely Brazilian characteristics.
For example, it is said
that every Malandro is a bohemian but every bohemian is not necessarily a Malandro. The difference lies in the fact that the bohemian sees work as a necessary evil to make money available to provide for his bohemian life and the expenses involved in it.
On the other hand, the Malandro sees work as evil and
unnecessary, something to avoid completely.
In other words, In
everything the Malandro does, pleasure has to be on the top of the list of priorities. Nonetheless, they do have something in common, and that is the search for enjoyment in alcohol and love relationships in the night(Teixeira, 2003).
Malandraqem Dialectics The Malandro's acts and motivations is Malandragem, the means through which a Malandro pursuits hapiness outside of the
15
work order.
He is at the opposite end of the spectrum of the
Calvinistic Protestant work ethic in which 'waste of time' is the first and in principle the deadliest of sins (Weber, 1958) A famous Brazilian author Almeida, published a book 'Memorias de urn Sargento de Milicias' in the beginning of the nineteenth century.
In this book he depicts the story of a boy,
Leonardo, who grows in a world of Malandragem, a world between the two worlds of order and disorder. On one side, the world of order surrounds him with family, upper class,
family, home, wife.
sincere feelings and honesty, On the other, the world of
disorder surrounds him with the world of trickery, inconsenquential love affairs, lower class, street and mistresses. Figure 1, shows the characters that belong to either one or other of these groups.
Leonardo is placed in the middle. Figure 1
Leonardo was raised to be a Malandro.
He is the epitomized
representation of a Malandro. He manages to live in this world from a early age and as he grew up and learned the artistry of Malandragem. To further understand this character and the duality of Malandragem a brief description of Leonardo will follow:
Leonardo from humble origins, is raised 'largado no mundo'-in the
16
streets but at the same time not
abandoned. Similar to most
Malandros, he is lovable, smiley,
and spontaneous in his acts. He
lives in a somewhat unpredictable
world, with no plans or reflexions
learning nothing from
experience (Candido) .
Leonardo has no feelings only
reflexes of attack and defense.
He betrays his friends, tricks his
bosses and has no line of conduct.
He does not love anybody and if he
ever marries one day it will be
for mere interest.
Contradictorily however, he has
sincere feelings for Luisinha, who
he ends up married with. He is
also loyal and even being a
Malandro he does everything not to
hurt his also Malandro friend
Teotoninho Sabia. (Candido)
• A malandro is a contradiction to himself.
He loves his
woman but at the same time he sustains love affairs, romantic relationships with others. Whereas he expresses the embodiment of the egotistical self he is still loyal to his closest friends. By living in between two worlds the Malandro creates an impression that he in fact belongs in different social grounds. While he really belongs to Malandragem and only cares about himself, other people would not believe that he is so. To depict such a dissimulative strategy an analogy will be used.
A faulty mirror, where the image is comprehensible but
17
not perfectly representational of reality, will represent the reality of a Malandro. Suppose the faulty mirror is the in-between world of Malandro.
He is at one side of this mirror and logically his
image is at the other.
His image is what other people think he
is, that's the faulty, unreal image.
Who he is in fact is not
revealed, and only him and those that belong with him in Malandragem know that information.
By using the faulty
mirror/in-between world camouflage-like strategy, the Malandro tricks everybody as to who he is and that way manages to belong with different social groups. Figure 2 depicts such an analogy. Figure 2
Ma1andraqem and the Institution of Favor
The origins of Malandragem may have been an escape valve for the socially oppressed enslaved African Brazilians. Later in history, it nevertheless fulfilled a very important social purpose that went beyond its original purposes. By the nineteenth century, Malandragem was a means to maintain social relationships, it was the so-called Institution of Favor.
The origins of that institution comes from a society
in which labor was slave-based, where those who did not own land and slaves or were
~laves.,
depended much in 'favor' as a
mechanism of survival (Oliven, 1982).
18
As a result, the works of the institution of favor takes its role.
It is the doctrine of nOne hand washes the other H
most Brazilians would say to this day.
,
as
If one helps a friend
here, another helps one other friend over there and in that way the system is maintained. In plain words, if one has beans, another has rice, and yet another has a stove, these three fellows will get together in order to cook and eat.
In such a system that everybody depends on one another, social tensions arise.
Regard for what one does, is of
fundamental importance, in view of the fact that the wrong step might bring serious consequences. One has to be careful in not offending anybody because he/she might need them in the future. This is where Brazilian Malandragem comes in. An art that is based on the African Brazilian false submission tactics, but is the outcome of years of the institution of favor. In the Institution of favor, owners and slaves do not play a role, but the idea of submitting and being submitting still exists. To ask somebody a favor is a form of submission, and to use these false submission tactics means to be relieved of the burdens of subordination. Malandragem is nothing less than the expression of those tactics at the Institution of Favor level. It is not only a very important part of national heritage, but
19
it also represents the means through which the Brazilian people build and maintain social relations.
Race and the institution of favor Brazilian society from the nineteenth century was one much like the United States during the same time period as far slave/slave owners relative population go.
Survey indicates
that on average, roughly a third of this population were slaves and roughly a third of the free population were slave owners (Klein and Vidal Luna) .
Although numbers were similar to that of Southern United States of the same time period, there was big difference in the race of the free population.
Whereas the free population was
over 95 percent white in the United States, whites tended to be less than half of the free population in most of Brazil (Klein and Vidal Luna).
These numbers reflect the differences between Brazil and the United States; whereas the majority of the free population in Brazil was constituted by non-whites, in the United States those were less than 5 percent. With the largest non-white free population of the Americas, Brazil's national census of 1872, revealed 4.2 million free non whites compared to 1.5 million slaves, and so within Brazil
20
itself they were the largest single racial Istatus group (Klein and Vidal Luna). Figure three shows the population of the Free non-whites in the 17 different municipal districts of both Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo in the census reports of 1829 and 1830. These are numbers from localized populations in the southern Brazil, but they nevertheless reflect population at a national level.
Figure 3
Institution of Favor and Industrialism
In the beginning of the 1930's, capitalism and industrialism were both growing in Brazil and as one may decipher, the ideals of the institution of favor are not at all closely associated with those of capitalism. Since the Brazilian working class ideology was not the same as that of the liberal European working class, capitalism was somewhat misplaced in Brazilian national territory.
From the last section, it can be stated that it is a fact that the institution of favor has been part of a national heritage long before there was any thought of industrialization. But as time passed and with the advent of the industrial world in Brazil, the Institution of Favor was losing its purpose even though Brazilians were still inserted in its social context.
21
As a response to the process of industrialization, what was named Malandragem or Jeitinho Brasileiro (Brazilian Way),
were
the means to express the value system of the institution of favor. With the intention to express Brazilian favor ethics, Malandragem became through Samba, officially part of a national identity.
Since Malandragem favor ethics are intrinsically enemies of capitalism, Brazil as a capitalist country, contradicts itself in that particular aspect.
On the other hand, this
contradiction is a mere reflection of Malandragem dalectics, the world of contradictions.
Capoeira Origins, meanings and Malandragem
Capoeira is a practice that sythesizes dance acrobatics and martial arts and is accompanied by music, chanting, clapping and singing (Viti, 2003). Nowadays, it is a practice that has become part of national identity and a popular sport and social activity. Originally, it was an African Brazilian ritual developed by Angolan slaves. It developed into a defensive method against their owners in the colonial plantations of Bahia during the
22
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although there are some controversies in regards to the origins of it.
Besides a dance and a fight Capoeira is a game, therefore the terminology 'jogar capoeira' or 'play Capoeira' .
I t is
played in a circle called 'roda' in which two players are within.
In a circle motion, they stare at each other with the
goal of keeping equilibrium and maintaining one's eyes on the opponent's. Furthermore, 'by trying to use a class of blows known as 'desequilibrantes'or 'trip-ern-ups' they try to unbalance the adversary (Lewis, 2000).
Ideologically, the main goal of Capoeira is to mask its purpose of defense and avoid direct contact or conflict. It was the tactic slaves used in order not to show direct aggression or even opposition to his master.
To be able to do so, they had to
learn the art of trickiness or malandro, false submission tactics. For this reason, modern capoeiristas still prize sneakiness and cunning over strength and aggression since the Capoeira is not about defense through violence but redirect and avoidance of it.
Capoeira is also about the idea of being 'equilibrado' or having good equilibrium.
One has to maintain this equilibrium
in order to stay on their feet,
to keep good timing so clashes
23
do not occur, and to never forget to keep eyes on the opponent's.
Being equilibrado or having equilibrium also implies being 'educado' or educated.
In, Capoeira, when a person 'graduates'
into mastery , that person becomes a
'capoeirista formado' or a
'capoeirista with a degree' (Lewis, 2000). In real life, when a person has poise he or she is considered 'educado', a person that has equilibrium,
equ~poise,
that knows how deal with daily
life problems in a peaceful, equilibrado manner.
In that aspect Capoeira reflects how Brazilians deal and express violence.
In a country where a great number of people
would be considered poor, facing terrible living conditions, have this equilibrium is of fundamental necessity.
to
Since
violence or the fear of violence is an everyday part of the lives of most people, both rich and poor, to keep eyes on the opponent's, to keep equilibrium and to avoid any sort of clashes, especially with strangers, is a means to express violence. Therefore, in Brazil it is true that to avoid violence could mean expressing it.
Having explained the doctrine of Capoeira, let us move the history of the events that led up to the 'adoption' of it as national identity. To understand how that took place this brief
24
history, beginning in the nineteenth century up to the 1930's during the Vargas regime, will ensue in the next subsections.
Criminalization of Capoeira, legalization and national identity
Early in the nineteenth century Brazilian society, capoeira was considered to be merely a game. In a few decades, a process of crimina1ization began to take place and as a result, Capoeira went through a dramatic change-from 'merely a game' to an 'offensive criminal' act' 'cu1minating in the outlawing of it in 1892, four years after abolition of slavery.
There was widespread feelings of contempt of many people towards Capoeira even after it was considered to be a national sport.
A Brazilian author, namely, Rugendas expresses in his
book 'Viagem Pitoresca Atraves do Brasil of 1954':
The blacks have another game that is much more violent, the Capoeira: two combatants push against each other, trying to hit the adversary's chest with his head, as they attempt to throw the other to the ground ... Often times they strongly strike each other's head, which causes the game to degenerate into a fight where knives are introduced, turning it into a bloody game. (Chvaicer, 2002)
The feelings towards Capoeira were very generalized. Even Gi1berto Freyre, who apparently was a defender of African
25
culture in Brazil, viewed Capoeira negatively.
He believed
that due to the process of criminalization and cultural pursuit, Capoeira lost its original African 'multidimensionality' and became a criminal act.
To protect themselves from the police,
these idlers organized themselves ... and
this was really the reason why the art
of Capoeiragem among us ceased to be a
typically Afro-Brazilian diversion to
sink into crime and sexual aberrations
into,gangs armed with daggers
(Chvaicer, 2002).
Even though Capoeira was considered a criminal act, ,different social groups learned to play it. Native Brazilians, mixed-race and white immigrants and even local aristocrats played it secretly since it was considered to be a criminal act. Amazingly enough, Capoeira meant to them, the same it did to the blacks. It was to them a martial art in which they acquired agility, strength and learned to cope with the dangers of daily life.
With time, the, legalization of Capoeira came in 1937 during the Vargas regime, however only to registered areas.
Once it
was recognized as part of national identity Capoeira gradually became more accepted. However, it remained to be considered lower status practice, more so than Samba and in many ways was oppressed by those in power.
26
This presents another contradiction in Brazil.
Capoeira,
which reflects the Brazilian people's expression of violence, is not practiced by a great majority of the Brazilian population. On top of that, Capoeira is considered to be a low status practice by a good percentage of the population. that, the contradiction is very clear.
Having said
Nothing to be alarmed by
since Brazil is the 'Land of Contradictions' .
Conclusion
Brazil is in many ways similar to the United States. capitalist country,
It is
it did have slavery, and it does have
racism, one of a different nature and representation, but nevertheless, racism. How can a country have so many similarities and still be so different?
That can be explained in a very simple manner.
In the
nineteenth century the non-white population, which includes
.
black, mulattoes and indians, was actually more numerous than . that of the white population. On the other hand in the United States at the same time period, 95 percent of the population was white, and moreover, racial admixture did not take place as much as it did in Brazil. Since it was during the nineteenth century, that the Brazilian culture started to develop as a nation, one
27
can begin to understand the causes of the contradictions in relation to race and national identity. In denying that reality, the Brazilian government, backed up by the people, tried to 'whiten' the Brazilian race.
By
engaging in this 'whitening' policy, they established immigration laws open to all except blacks and Asians.
In some
of these immigration acts such such as that of 1941, they even went to the extent to state that Europeans were more 'convenient' to the country. These attempts were useless, however.
Brazil national
culture was already in many aspects African Brazilian, and it was not 'adopted' by the charitable white population, as many may believe. However, even though Samba, Capoeira, and Malandragem are nationally recognized as part of national identity, they nevertheless are still considered low-status practice.
For
example, the term Malandragem is carried with negative connotations. It usually refers to the behavior of a male who is poor, that does not have a job, and who occupies the lowest status of the social hierarchy.
This ultimately has racial
implications.
28
Considering that racism or negative prejudice is thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant (Allport, 1958), the fact that Malandragem, the art of survival of the slaves, is viewed negatively is of no surprise in a country such as Brazil.
Still, the Brazilian population needed to express Malandragem because it is a national practice. But in order to do so without hurting whitening ideals, different names were formulated.
A 'white' Malandragem, namely Jeitinho Brasileiro,
which is by no means any different from the black, was formed. It was a means to nationalize Malandragem but not hurting whitening ideals of the population. Like Malandragem, Jeitinho, the art of being like everybody else more than anyone else, expresses the Brazilian ethics of favor.
It is through 'Jeitinho' that Brazilians belong together
with no regard to race or ethnicity.
It is the means through
which, Brazil became a nation.
As it has been mentioned, Brazil is a country of contradictions.
From the beginning, it was built on principles
of inequality and relations of power.
Notwithstanding, this
system of oppression succumbed onto itself as more and more slaves were brought into Brazilian territory.
With such a big
number of slave immigrants, Brazilian culture could do nothing but to 'adopt' African culture as part of national identity. 29
Once somebody told me-"Brazil is a slave country". At the time I was not familiar with all the history, I did not quite understand it and did not agree to it.
In researching for this
paper, I realized that the claim does actually carry some true meaning.
Regardless of the intention of the claimer of such a
statement, slave culture, as far as one may understand, refers I t is the
to the result of centuries of social oppression.
answer slaves have found to their problems as they occupied the lowest part of the Brazilian social hierarchy.
It is culture
that gave pride and a reason to live to the slaves in such a hostile environment of slave Brazil. Surely, slavery does not exist today, and this mechanism of survival has certainly taken different shapes along the years. The origins of the system may be of shame to some, but it is actually a reason for pride to have such an amazing system as part of a national identity. A system that provides a means for transcendence over social hierarchy, equanimity in situations in which it is deemed as necessary and a sense of dignity and self respect in a society that does not give any of it.
30
Allport, Gordon. 1958 The nature of Prejudice. Company, Inc.
Addison-Wesley Publishing
For general knowledge on the nature of racism. section for a definition of prejudice.
Used on a small
Barbosa, Livia 1992 0 jeitinho Brasileiro, a arte de ser mais igual que os outros. Ed. Campus Ltda. Jeitinho Brasileiro-Brazilian Way, the art of being more equal to everybody else than anybody else) is about Brazilian National Identity fundamental character-Malandragem. This book is used for knowledge of the posi-tive meaning of Malandragem. Browning, Barbara 1995 Samba, Resistance in motion. Indiana University Press. One of the most important pieces for this paper. I intend to explain the idea of syncopation in samba and capoeira and how that's linked to the idea of Brazilian National Identity and the Jeitinho Brasileiro. Candido, Antonio 1970 Dialetica da Malandragem. Revista do Instituto de Estudos Brasileiros. Pages 67-89 Probably one of the most important sources for this paper. is description of the ethos of Malandragem.
It
Chvaicer, Maya Thalmon. 2002 The Criminalization of Capoeira in the Nineteenth Century. Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 82 Issue 3. To understand the history of Capoeira and the path it took from creation to the inclusion of it in Brazilian National identity.
31
Hess, DaMatta; David, Roberto A. 1995 The Brazilian puzzle, Culture on the Borderlands of the Western World. Columbia University Press: New York This piece is used to conjoin the meanings of Jeitinho Brasi1eiro and Ma1andragem. Both are different terms for the same concept. Klein, Luna; Herbert, Francisco Vidal 2000 Free Colored in a Slave Society: Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais in the Early Nineteenth Century. Hispanic American HIstorical Review 80:4. Pages 913-941. Fundamental piece of work used to connect Malandragem, Samba and Capoeira to National identity. It explains the reason why Brazil is what it is today.
Lewis, J. Lowell 2000 Sex and Violence in Brazil: Carnaval, Capoeira, and the problem of everyday life. American Ethnologist 26 (3): 539-557. Used for an understanding of the Capoeira as an expression of violence on everyday lives of Brazilians. Oliven, Ruben George 1986 A Malandragem na musica popular brasi1eira. Viol en cia e Cultura no Brasil. Petropolis: Editora Vozes. 29-60
The connection of Malandragem and Samba. It also explores the clash between Malandragem and Industrialism, explaining reasons for such a clash.
32
Schwarcz, Lilia 1995 Complexo de Ze Carioca: Notas sobre uma identidade mestica e malandra. Revista Brasileira de Ciencias Sociais 29, 10): 49-63.
Further extend knowledge on Malandragem, and the history of origin of the idea of racial admixture and whitening ideals in Brazil. Shaw, Lisa 1999
The Social History of the Brazilian Samba. Ashgate Publishing Limited England. It has the purpose of showing a historical analysis of samba roots and an individual analysis of samba composers on each phase of samba becoming a national identity. Sodre, Muniz 1979
Samba 0 dono do corpo. Printed by JB Industrias Graficas Ltda.
With this book I wish to explain in little terms what samba
meaning of samba dancer, both at the personal and cultural
level.
Teixeira, Joao Gabriel L.C.
2002 National Identity in Brazilian Popular Music.
Popular
Music and Society. Vol 26, No.1. One of the most important pieces, which connects Malandragem and Samba, and explores the meanings and definitions of Malandragem.
Vianna, Hermano 1999
The mystery of Samba, popular Music and National Identity in Brazil. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill & London.
Further extend knowledge on meaning of samba.
33
Viti, Lucia 2003
Capoeira. American Fitness.
Vol. 21 Issue 1.
A brief definition of Capoeira. Weber, Max 1958 Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Charles Scribner's sons: New York. Used for comparison of Brazilian Malandragem ethics and Protestant work eth~cs. .It helps provide a better understanding of what is Malandragem.
34
_ _
Rela~6.s
ProssOlS
ORDEM
sa,)
'1I
•
:
t~ \ \
I
\
\
I
a
\
I
0
-
