River of tears : country music, memory, and modernity in Brazil

A study of caipira, Brazil's most indigenous country music, and the commodification of the rural in Brazilian popular culture.;Rural music, intimacy, and memory -- What counts as "country"? rural performativity in the twentieth century -- Country brothers : kinship as chronotope -- Mixture, sadness, and intimacy in the Brazilian musical field -- Hick dialogics : experiencing the play of rural genres -- Teleologies of rural disappearance : interpreting rural music -- Digital droplets and analogue flames : the circulatory matrices of Brazilian country -- Producing rural locality -- Hicks of the world : the country cosmopolitan -- Postauthoritarian memory and rurality. River of Tears is the first ethnography of Brazilian country music, one of the most popular genres in Brazil yet least-known outside it. Beginning in the mid-1980s, commercial musical duos practicing música sertaneja reached beyond their home in Brazil's central-southern region to become national bestsellers. Rodeo events revolving around country music came to rival soccer matches in attendance. A revival of folkloric rural music called música caipira, heralded as música sertaneja's ancestor, also took shape. And all the while, large numbers of Brazilians in the central-south were moving to cities, using music to support the claim that their Brazil was first and foremost a rural nation. Since 1998, Alexander Sebastian Dent has analyzed rural music in the state of São Paulo, interviewing and spending time with listeners, musicians, songwriters, journalists, record-company owners, and radio hosts. Dent not only describes the production and reception of this music, he also explains why the genre experienced such tremendous growth as Brazil transitioned from an era of dictatorship to a period of intense neoliberal reform. Dent argues that rural genres reflect a widespread anxiety that change has been too radical and has come too fast. In defining their music as rural, Brazil's country musicians--whose work circulates largely in cities--are criticizing an increasingly inescapable urban life characterized by suppressed emotions and an inattentiveness to the past. Their performances evoke a river of tears flowing through a landscape of loss--of love, of life in the countryside, and of man's connections to the natural world River of Tears is the first ethnography of Brazilian country music, one of the most popular genres in Brazil yet least-known outside it. Beginning in the mid-1980s, commercial musical duos practicing musica sertaneja reached beyond their home in Brazil's central-southern region to become national bestsellers. Rodeo events revolving around country music came to rival soccer matches in attendance. A revival of folkloric rural music called musica caipira, heralded as musica sertaneja's ancestor, also took shape. And all the while, large numbers of Brazilians in the central-south were moving to cities, using music to support the claim that their Brazil was first and foremost a rural nation. Since 1998, Alexander Sebastian Dent has analyzed rural music in the state of Sao Paulo, interviewing and spending time with listeners, musicians, songwriters, journalists, record-company owners, and radio hosts. Dent not only describes the production and reception of this music, he also explains why the genre experienced such tremendous growth as Brazil transitioned from an era of dictatorship to a period of intense neoliberal reform Contents 8 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Rural Music, Intimacy, and Memory 16 1 What Counts as ‘‘Country’’? Rural Performativity in the Twentieth Century 44 2 Country Brothers: Kinship as Chronotope 72 3 Mixture, Sadness, and Intimacy in the Brazilian Musical Field 98 4 Hick Dialogics: Experiencing the Play of Rural Genres 123 5 Teleologies of Rural Disappearance: Interpreting Rural Music 151 6 Digital Droplets and Analogue Flames: The Circulatory Matrices of Brazilian Country 177 7 Producing Rural Locality 201 8 Hicks of the World: The Country Cosmopolitan 226 Conclusion: Postauthoritarian Memory and Rurality 254 Notes 266 Musical Works Cited 282 Bibliography 284 Index 300 Introduction: Rural Music, Intimacy, And Memory -- What Counts As Country? : Rural Performativity In The Twentieth Century -- Country Brothers : Kinship As Chronotope -- Mixture, Sadness, And Intimacy In The Brazilian Musical Field -- Hick Dialogics : Experiencing The Play Of Rural Genres -- Teleologies Of Rural Disappearance : Interpreting Rural Music -- Digital Droplets And Analogue Flames : The Circulatory Matrices Of Brazilian Country -- Producing Rural Locality -- Hicks Of The World : The Country Cosmopolitan -- Conclusion: Postauthoritarian Memory And Rurality. Alexander Sebastian Dent. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.