{"id":77757,"date":"2021-04-14T11:12:23","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T10:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=77757"},"modified":"2023-02-20T18:17:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T16:17:49","slug":"carnival-a-bastion-of-brazilian-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/carnival-a-bastion-of-brazilian-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Carnival, a bastion of Brazilian resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Relations between samba and the Brazilian authorities have always been strained. The first samba school, Deixa Falar, was founded in 1928 in Rio in the downbeat Est\u00e1cio de S\u00e1 neighbourhood, which was inhabited mostly by sex workers, dockers, petty criminals and manual laboureres. Most of them were people of color and the majority were immigrants. The school gave a sense of respectability to samba dancers in the carnival whose main concern was to march without being beaten up by the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When official recognition of the right to samba came in the 1930s, carnivals became a great spectacle and a necessary symbol of national culture as the schools infused their parades with all things Brazil. With \u201cTeste ao Samba\u201d in 1939, the Portela samba school recorded the first act of resistance, pitting the carnival against authoritarian powers by deciding to pay tribute to samba rather than to a great battle or a hero of the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"236\" height=\"314\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/24afc9da-affiche-carnaval.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"77732\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/24afc9da-affiche-carnaval.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?attachment_id=77732\" class=\"wp-image-77732\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"753\" height=\"1100\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2394687d-varig.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"77731\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2394687d-varig.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?attachment_id=77731\" class=\"wp-image-77731\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2394687d-varig.jpg 753w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2394687d-varig-661x966.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2394687d-varig-465x679.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/2394687d-varig-375x548.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Emphasis on national themes transformed the processions more or less into travelling operas \u2013 \u201cExalta\u00e7\u00e3o \u00e0 Tiradentes\u201d is a tribute to the hero of the insurrection against the Portuguese crown; \u201cDia de fico\u201d is the day when prince regent Dom Pedro I refused to return to Portugal, thus accelerating the country\u2019s independence; and let\u2019s not forget \u201cO Grande Presidente\u201d, an ode to the populist Get\u00falio Vargas. It was during the time of the former dictator that the phenomenon of the <em>marchinhas<\/em> (little marches) took hold during Carnival. Full of double meaning, the <em>marchinhas<\/em> reflect daily life in Brazilian society, expressing both popular humor and social concerns. They have consistently denounced the misdeeds and corruption of politicians, and these remain the marchers\u2019 favorite targets today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"631\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval-1010x631.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-77734\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval-1010x631.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval-759x474.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval-661x413.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval-465x291.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval-375x234.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/0c26201a-carnaval.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Pagne in honor of Mandela worn by the members of Il\u00ea Ayi\u00ea (photo tourisme-bresil.com) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>During the 1960s and 1970s, carnivals remained indebted to their African roots. Writers such as Candeia, Nei Lopes, Martinho da Vila, Elton Medeiros and Paulinho da Viola gave samba a new identity, inherited from Brazil\u2019s African-infused culture. During this period Brazil was under the control of the military and some schools, such as Imperatriz Leopoldinense with Martin Cerer\u00ea in 1972, considered it more prudent to side with the generals. Few schools dared to defy the dictatorship; in Rio, only Acad\u00eamicos do Salgueiro risked marching in 1967 on the theme of the history of freedom in Brazil. During the 1969 carnival, Imp\u00e9rio Serrano\u2019s writers had to modify their <em>enredo<\/em> \u201cHer\u00f3is da Liberdade\u201d, as it was considered too critical. It was only thanks to Chico Buarque\u2019s fame that, when he dared to sing \u201cApesar de Voc\u00ea\u201d (Despite You), he wasn\u2019t arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the return of democracy, Carnival resumed its role as a mirror of social and political reality. In 2019, four months after the election of Jair Bolsonaro, the Mangueira samba school, crowned champion of the carnival, revisited Brazil\u2019s history through the great figures of African and Indian resistance, often ignored in school textbooks. They also paid a poignant tribute to Marielle Franco, an activist for minority rights, who had been assassinated one year earlier.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Listen to the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Getup Playlist (s\u2019ouvre dans un nouvel onglet)\" href=\"https:\/\/getup.radio\/playlists\/love-and-politics-the-carnival-bastion-of-brazilian-resistance\" target=\"_blank\">Getup Playlist<\/a> related to the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"613\" height=\"622\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-77748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela.jpg 613w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela-465x472.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela-375x381.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/6ca3d958-portela-73x73.jpg 73w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An expression of social and political life, the Carnival is also a liminal space of transgression, offering a celebratory freedom of expression synonymous with challenging the powers that be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":77726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10913,7833,90,9080],"tags":[37047,729],"location":[7902,7901],"yst_prominent_words":[8403,8539,10752,16540,37043,37038,8414,37042,8447,8613,8435,17179,37039,37041,9741,37044,37040,8438,12484,8848],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77757"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=77757"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=77757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}