
Author/Contributor(s): | Vianna, Hermano ; Chasteen, John Charles ; Chasteen, John Charles |
Publisher: | University of North Carolina Press |
Date: | 02/16/1999 |
Binding: | Paperback |
Condition: | NEW |
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.