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Rap |
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"At the turn of the last century, a poet, Olavo
Bilac, described Brazil as a country of Three Sad
Races.
He meant Portuguese, Indians and Africans. I think
people still believe that these are the key races
that make up Brazilian nationality.
But there was a massive migration from Germany,
Italy, Portugal, Spain, Eastern Europe, and also
from Japan, China, and from the Middle East too.
Today, the picture is much more complicated than
that suggested by this hackneyed phrase."
Professor David Treece |
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Introduction
Two contradictory themes run through Brazilian popular
culture as it is expressed on television and in music.
On the one hand, dramatic soap-operas - telenovelas
- and television have helped to unify and create the
Brazilian nation.
But on the other hand, through Rap, young black musicians
are beginning to challenge the myths of escapist television.
Here, directors of telenovelas, rap musicians and academics
examine these conflicting cultural themes in Brazil.
Brazil is continental in size - the largest country
in South America - and complicatedly mixed in population.
Extremes of wealth and poverty sit side by side in the
same cities where three quarters of all Brazilians live.
But nearly all of the country’s 170 million inhabitants
watch TV. And at some point in their lives tune in to
watch the telenovelas that are broadcast by Globo TV
across the nation for hours every evening.
"TV
is a huge thing in Brazil. The country is united, because
it’s so geographically diverse, only by language.
It is remarkable that partly due to the influence of
popular music and TV over this huge expanse of Brazil,
popular culture as expressed through television and
pop music, has been the main instrument of this."
Writer
John Ryle
"Rap
represents a disturbing challenge to many people’s idea
of what black afro-Brazilian music is supposed to be
all about. Certainly in the public imagination and through
the media especially, this new black music became identified
with the notion of a threatening black population.
For the blacks themselves, this new music was a way
of expressing their sense of discontent. The idea of
the old culture of carnival and samba, in which everybody
black and white was supposed to belong somehow to this
big Brazilian family ... no longer fitted with their
experience. The new rap lyrics denounce the marginalisation
of black people, especially of black youth."
Professor
David Treece, Kings College
 Listen
to the radio programme:
Latin
American Words - Brazil
BBC
Mundo |
BBC
Brasil |
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