The Mystery of Samba : Popular Music and National Identity in Brazil

Samba is Brazil's "national rhythm" the foremost symbol of its culture and nationhood. To the outsider, samba and the famous pre-Lenten carnival of which it is the centerpiece seem to showcase the country's African heritage. Within Brazil, however, samba symbolizes the racial and cultural mixture that, since the 1930s, most Brazilians have come to believe defines their unique national identity. But how did Brazil become "the Kingdom of Samba" only a few decades after abolishing slavery in 1888? Typically, samba is represented as having changed spontaneously, mysteriously, from a "repressed" music of the marginal and impoverished to a national symbol cherished by all Brazilians. Here, however, Hermano Vianna shows that the nationalization of samba actually rested on a long history of relations between different social groups-poor and rich, weak and powerful-often working at cross-purposes to one another. A fascinating exploration of the "invention of tradition" The Mystery of Samba is an excellent introduction to Brazil's ongoing conversation on race, popular culture, and national identity.

For Brazilians, samba symbolizes the racial and cultural mixture that now defines their national identity. As the story behind Brazil's nationalization of samba, this book offers a unique approach to the country's ongoing conversation on race, popular culture, and national identity.

Lingua Franca - Ben Ratliff

The Mystery of Samba presents a densely argued academic thesis, written for a Brazilian academic audience.... The most important point in the book is one that Vianna never simply states, but it's nevertheless the tune you're whistling when you finish: Popular music isn't only what one turn to when taking a rest from important things like writing social history. It can actually work, if sometimes indirectly, to change the world.

Dedication Epigraph Contents Translator’s Preface Author’s Preface to the U.S. Edition Acknowledgments 1 The Encounter 2 The Mystery 3 Popular Music and the Brazilian Elite 4 The Unity of the Nation 5 Race Mixture 6 Gilberto Freyre 7 The Modern Samba 8 Samba of My Native Land 9 Nowhere at All 10 Conclusions Notes Index How did Brazil become ""the Kingdom of Samba"" only a few decades after abolishing slavery in 1888? The author of this book shows that the nationalization of samba actually rested on a long history of relations between different social groups, often working at cross-purposes to one another. Points to the Brazilian nation's strong expression of popular culture as a long term transcultural experience between cultural elites and popular voices