Brazilian Culture Essay

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Brazilian Culture

Brazil's culture is a fascinating blend of European, African and Amerindian influences. Portuguese settlers brought with them strong influences in religion, later Europeans such as Italians and Germans arrived bringing 20th century ideas about government, Africans brought drums and dance, and Amerindian influences can be found in a number of spheres. Over the course of the past five hundred years, these influences have been shaped by the vast and varied landscape, the climate and political events. Even though different parts of the country developed almost in isolation from one another due to geographic distance, some elements of culture bind all Brazilians. Carnival is one of those. The combination in dance, music, costume and religion into a single event is one of the defining elements of Brazilian culture. At once, it takes deep roots and social significance, while maintaining a lighter popular side that pays only superficial homage to its roots. This paper will analyze carnival from the perspective of how it reflects Brazilian culture today, and how it evolved into that position.

History

Carnival today is celebrated before the beginning of Lent, marking it as a Catholic festival. The festival is celebrated around the world in Catholic places. In the old world, this type of celebration is well-known in places as diverse as Venice, Cologne and Limassol in Cyprus. The idea of a pre-Lent festival to celebrate before giving up good things during Lent has pagan roots, but arrived in Brazil with the Portuguese. As such, carnival has taken root all over the country. The most famous carnival event is in Rio de Janeiro, but almost every city and town in Brazil hosts one, some nearly as large as Rio's. These events are often infused with local character and culture, reflecting the way that Brazil's regions were, in the days before air travel, remote from one another.

The festival origins of the event are in the name, which implies the eating of meat. Dancing and singing would have been part of the festival, along with drunkenness, since the beginning. These became formalized in the early part of the 20th century.

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In the northern region of Bahia, musical groups called trios electricos began to play in the streets, informally at first, but the idea eventually became formalized. When this concept came to Rio, it led to the parades of musicians and dancers that we see today. Samba, a popular carnival music, has strong African roots and also originated from Bahia, which is more heavily African and Caribbean than the more European cities of the south.

Cultural Melting Pot

Brazil's early population included Europeans (mostly Portuguese), Africans both enslaved and (eventually) free, a complex mix of Amerindian cultures, as well as influences of immigrants from other areas. The country's current approach to race was reflected in the writings of Gilberto Freyre, who in 1933 wrote a treatise celebrating Brazil's diversity, something that stood in contrast to ideologies elsewhere in the world. While this work was criticized by some for not being perfect, it reflected something that would become a significant part of Brazilian culture -- the intermingling of races to form a coherent Brazilian identity (Chapter 14). There remains some racism in the country, it is noted, but nothing compared with what other colonial countries like the United States or South Africa experience.

The carnival reflects the Brazilian model cultural melting pot concept. Perhaps not coincidentally, carnival's popularity and modern form arose in a Brazil that was maturing in its racial identity. The traditions of carnival are rooted in both African and European influences. In a religious sense, this Catholic tradition rooted in paganism is infused with African folk religion found in Bahia, itself an amalgam of different folk traditions and Christianity. This is then transported to the European south, but not without bringing with it a Europeanized form of African rhythms. The dancing owes more to Africa, the costume to the rich carnivals in places like Venice and Portugal. It is in the way that these traditions are blended, almost seamlessly, into a singular entity that makes Brazilian carnival so unique. It is a reflection of the Brazilian people itself -- a giant party that mixes….....

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