Versão em português
There are recurrent discussions around the world lately, a mix of ideological positions and ethical concerns
about minority or discriminated population groups. There are heated debates multiplying
in practically every country and igniting old latent embers that burn in the
hearts of many people.
Among these themes, there is the controversial "cultural
appropriation".
According to experts, cultural appropriation occurs when a majority or a
dominant group uses or adopts a cultural element of a minority group that is
marginalized or discriminated, to the detriment of the latter. I know two
classic examples of this process: one from Canada and the other from Brazil.
Poutine seems to represent this phenomenon very well. It is a popular dish that appeared in late 1950s in
the province of Quebec. According to Quebecer Nicolas Fabien Ouellet, for a
long time, poutine has been mocked, in addition to being used to tarnish Quebec
culture and undermine its legitimacy of self-determination as a nation.
Recently, its consumption has increased outside the province and the dish has
begun to be identified as a typical Canadian dish, or even as Canada's national
dish. Quebecers like poutine to be appreciated outside their borders, but not
as a dish of Canadian cuisine, they see it as a new process of assimilation,
erasing their culture: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/05/29/cultural-appropriation-po_n_16869564.html
Another example of cultural appropriation is the African contribution
incorporated to the Brazilian culture. Learning from Quebecers' perception of loss in
elements that characterize their society, as a nation in another nation – with
a different language, another cuisine, different customs and religion – allowed
me to draw an analogy with the movement of black people, keeping respective
proportions, and it helped me to understand better what they are claiming in
order to be recognized in Brazilian society and to recover their black
identity.
The moving testimony of the writer Ana Maria Gonçalves explains very well the cultural appropriation in the
case of Blacks in Brazil (in Portuguese): https://theintercept.com/2017/02/15/na-polemica-sobre-turbantes-e-a-branquitude-que-nao-quer-assumir-seu-racismo/.
This text lists several elements of African culture that have been appropriated
by Brazilian society and compares to others from non-dominated foreign peoples,
so to speak, to whom we give due credit – pizza is an Italian dish, the acarajé
is a Brazilian dish.
The samba is an important example of this phenomenon, also mentioned. We
consider it as a typical Brazilian music/rhythm. The "Negritude movement", however, considers
that there has been cultural appropriation. I think they are right, let's
"render unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's". Just doing a quick search on the Internet, videos with
dances and rhythms in Africa, and we will find several examples almost
identical to our samba, with very little difference.
Like Quebec's poutine, samba
(and other African rhythms and dances) were scorned before being promoted to
the status of national identity symbol. For older people – born in the 1800s,
whom I knew...! – it was only a "batuque". Samba was frowned upon by Rio
de Janeiro’s conservative society and also by the rest of Brazil. This is
confirmed by the reaction of astonishment following the presentation of
Chiquinha Gonzaga's "maxixe" at the Catete Palace, in the beginning
of 20th century (theme recalled in the text of Tatiana Rezende, in Portuguese: https://cronicasdakbr.kbrinternational.org/2018/03/26/sem-memoria-sem-historia/).
In his famous speech, Ruy Barbosa was outraged and has listed different styles
of rhythm and dance, among which samba, with unflattering adjectives.
The history of samba reveals that its consolidation as national music
took place in Rio de Janeiro,
then the capital of the country, following a systematic campaign by President
Getúlio Vargas' government. The adherence of intellectuals, brilliant musicians
and singers has contributed immensely to the projection of samba nationally and
internationally.
As a Brazilian since long
time ago, I can also bring historical data, although I was born after Getúlio
Vargas era. I remember very well, during my childhood and adolescence, Rio had
a great influence on the whole Brazil - and it continues, at all levels, let's
admit it. At that time, it was very common to hear "Cariocas" (people from Rio), in TV shows, making fun of other Brazilians who did not know how to
dance samba, as if it was almost a national shame. The campaign has worked well.
Finally, I understand the sorrow of Afro-Brazilians who claim recognition for the enormous contribution
they have made to the country. In the case of music, however, we must remember
that, not only black composers, also many descendants of Portuguese and other
peoples who participated in the construction of Brazil have composed beautiful
melodies and words, real musical poems that have embellished and added value to
samba.
As for poutine, there is no way to improve it. All attempts already made
in this direction have only distorted it. The
original poutine is the best! Delicious!
~~//~~
Another interesting
reference about samba (in Portuguese):
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