Samba Culture

Hermano Vianna the Ethnomusicologist has drawn the attention of others to the new change in perspective of samba. Instead of being referred to as the persecuted/victimized music of the poorer Afro-Brazilian community, it is now understood as a symbol of Brazilianness. From there forward, samba would be recognized as the “national identity” of Brazil in celebration for its mixed cultural heritage, blacks and whites, after the 1930s. These two times in the past had a gap and Vianna referred to this as “the mystery of samba.” The sociologist, Gilberto Freyre, was the first to express his feelings that Brazilians should turn to their Afro-Brazilian culture instead of trying to copy the European nations. He says that Brazil has intrinsic aspects that should be utilized, not turned away. The 1920s and 1930s still remains vastly important and memorable as it was the first meeting of samba musicians and intellectuals. This created a large change in how Brazil was seen and several other countries in this time also chose to venture through their own identities rather than the European culture they had been imitating.
To my understanding the samba, "Nega do Cabela Duro" or “Black Woman with the Hard Hair”, was created during the …show more content…
Slavery was one of the battles that Brazil had to overcome in order to make peace with everybody’s cultural or race. In a very short time period, Brazil eliminated slavery in 1888 and merged their cultures (black and white) beginning in the 1930’s into today’s Brazil. The “Mystery of Samba” also created a larger impact on Brazil’s perception of mixed race people. Before this, Brazilian intellectuals viewed people who were mixed race as a negative or bad thing. Now, they look at race-mixed people in a new, positive light. Some may even call the color