CIEE Global Institute - Rio de Janeiro

CIEE Global Institute - Rio de Janeiro Course name: The Resistance Culture of Samba Course number: BRAZ 3102 RDJO Programs offering course: Rio de Janeiro Open Campus Open Campus track: Language, Literature and Culture Language of instruction: English U.S. Semester credits: 3 Contact hours: 45 Term: Fall 2019 Course Description Rio de Janeiro has been described as a porous city for the great degree of cultural exchange that has occurred between different peoples and traditions, creating new, local forms of cultural expression that bring together many streams and influences from different regions of Brazil, Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere. Rio has also been described as a divided city on account of vast socioeconomic differences and micro-segregation. These two descriptions taken together represent the fascinating paradox and mystery of Rio s vibrant, dynamic cultural life: divided yet porous, segregated yet constantly in dialogue, mixing and interacting. This course tells the story of the origins of samba and takes as its point of departure the neighborhoods known as Little Africa where, in the first decades of the twentieth-century, urban samba music emerged, as did also Brazil s first favelas. The story of samba is a prism into understanding differences in race relations between Brazil and the United States as well as exploring the significance of cultural resistance from the perspective of a dominated group. Students explore questions of hybridity, cultural exchange and appropriation, the role of race in the making of samba, and the politics of transforming a local cultural expression into a national symbol. Learning Objectives By completing this course, students will be able to: Identify key moments in the history and resistance culture of samba through close listenings, readings and critical analysis of representative works within their respective socio-historical contexts. 1

Discuss and write about topics related to samba and its culture, from an informed and critical perspective. Relate the knowledge acquired about samba and its culture of resistance to the students own bodies of knowledge. Methods of Instruction This course will be taught using a combination of methods including: lectures in presentation format with images to provide background and context information as well as to summarize and synthesize the vast bibliography on samba that is available only in Portuguese; close listening to recordings of historically significant compositions of samba and other locally-developed genres related to samba; numerous site visits, some during evening hours, to the most important sites and events for live samba and the preservation of samba culture in Rio; brief participant presentations that further develop close-listening skills and allow participants to reflect upon and share their personal listening experience with their peers; classroom discussion that elaborate upon some of the more complex questions on the history and legacy of samba and encourage participants to explore contemporary issues such as race, ethnicity, cultural nationalism, hybridity and appropriation in ways that deliberately draw upon personal experiences and non-brazilian contexts for comparison. Assessment and Final Grade 1. In-Class Presentation 20% 2. Short Response Papers (4) 20% 3. Midterm Exam 20% 4. Final Exam 20% 5. Class Participation 20% TOTAL: 100% Course Requirements In-Class Presentations In-class presentations present a single recording of local musical composition of the student s choosing. Presentations should not be longer than 15 minutes and include the following: information about the composition (author(s), musicians, date, versions), and commentary from the student's own close-listening. Commentary should mix personal 2

reactions/impressions of the song with analysis that takes into consideration course readings, lectures, discussions and site visits. The presentation should use Chicago style citation in referencing courses. Short Response Papers Students will produce four short papers (approximately 375-500 words) reflecting upon one or more course readings, lectures, class discussions and site visits. These papers should reflect upon personal impressions and reactions (affective), incorporating background information from the course. The papers should use Chicago style citation in referencing courses. Midterm Exam The midterm exam will be take-home, open-book, short-response answers (up to 6 questions). Each answer should be 250 words. Exams will be made available via Canvas one class session before they are due and must be submitted in Canvas by the due date. Final Exam The final exam will be take-home, open-book, short essays responding to three prompt questions (out of a total of 6 prompts). Each answer should be at least 500 words (and no more than 750 words). Exams will be made available via Canvas one class session before they are due and must be submitted in Canvas by the due date. Participation Participation is valued as meaningful contribution in the digital and tangible classroom, utilizing the resources and materials presented to students as part of the course. Meaningful contribution requires students to be prepared in advance of each class session and to have regular attendance. Students must clearly demonstrate they have engaged with the materials as directed, for example, through classroom discussions, online discussion boards, peer-to-peer feedback (after presentations), interaction with guest speakers, and attentiveness on co-curricular and outside-of-classroom activities. Attendance Policy Regular class attendance is required throughout the program, and all unexcused absences will result in a lower participation grade for any affected CIEE course. Due to the intensive schedules for Open Campus and Short Term programs, unexcused 3

absences that constitute more than 10% of the total course will result in a written warning. Students who transfer from one CIEE class to another during the add/drop period will not be considered absent from the first session(s) of their new class, provided they were marked present for the first session(s) of their original class. Otherwise, the absence(s) from the original class carry over to the new class and count against the grade in that class. For CIEE classes, excessively tardy (over 15 minutes late) students must be marked absent. Attendance policies also apply to any required co-curricular class excursion or event, as well as to Internship, Service Learning, or required field placement. Students who miss class for personal travel, including unforeseen delays that arise as a result of personal travel, will be marked as absent and unexcused. No make-up or re-sit opportunity will be provided. Attendance policies also apply to any required class excursion, with the exception that some class excursions cannot accommodate any tardiness, and students risk being marked as absent if they fail to be present at the appointed time. Unexcused absences will lead to the following penalties: Percentage of Total Course Hours Missed Equivalent Number of Open Campus Semester classes Minimum Penalty Up to 10% 1 content classes, or up to 2 language classes Participation graded as per class requirements 10 20% 2 content classes, or 3-4 language classes Participation graded as per class requirements; written warning More than 20% 3 content classes, or 5 language classes Automatic course failure, and possible expulsion 4

Weekly Schedule Following is the course schedule, subject to change. Week 1 Class 1:1 Orientation Week Introduction: The Story of Samba In this first week we explore how the story of samba and its origins in Rio can function as a prism for many questions that this course addresses: race relations and other power relations in Rio and in Brazil; the role of samba in the making of a modern nation; notions of appropriation and porosity or mixing and exchange; cultural transnationalism; repression of Afro-diaspora culture and cultural forms of resistance; music and religion in Brazilian culture; the globalization of Brazilian popular music. Class 1:2 Walking Tour of Little Africa Neighborhoods More slaves entered the New World through the port of Rio de Janeiro than any other city of the Americas. This tour will focus on a critical period of development in Rio s 550 year history, the period of transition from colonialism to modernity (1808 to early 1900s roughly) lifting layers of memory to reveal the Afro-Brazilian experience and uncover Brazil s extensive history of slavery. Reading: 1) Carvalho, Bruno. Porous City: A Cultural History of Rio de Janeiro 2) Vianna, Hermano. The Mystery of Samba: Popular Music and National Identity in Brazil. Film 1) Ribeiro, Darcy. Brasil Crioulo. O Povo Brasileiro. 2000. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) Music listening: GRES Vila Isabel. Kizomba, a festa da Raça. 1988. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) 5

Week 2 Class 2:1 Little Africa and it s Cultural Dynamics In this class, lectures will explore the origins of samba in a highly porous urban space that later came to be called Little Africa. 1) Vianna. Chapter 3: Popular Music and the Brazilian Elite (Canvas) 2) Butler, Kim D. - Chapter 1: Order and Progress : Elite Objectives and the Shaping of Abolition (Canvas) 1) GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira. Cem Anos de Liberdade. 1988. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) Class 2:2 Race Relations in Brazil through Samba and Religion Students will investigate the early connections between music and religion and the role of race in the pre-samba history. Students will go to a live roda de samba live music event (note: this activity will occur outside of regular class hours). Reading: 1) Carvalho. Chapter 5: Writing the Cradle of Samba: Race, Radio, and the Price of Progress (Canvas) 2) Karasch chapter 8: Samba and Song: Afro-Cariocan Slave Culture (Canvas) 3) Bocskay, Stephen. Undesired Presences: Samba, Improvisation, and Afropolitics in 1970s Brazil. 1) Donga. Pelo Telefone. 1916. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) Short Response Paper 1 due 6

Week 3 Class 3:1 Samba During the Military Dictatorship This class will discuss the manipulation of samba and sambistas by the military government and the promotion of samba as a national genre. Students will visit a roda de choro (note: this activity will occur outside of regular class hours). 1) Guillermoprieto, Prologue and chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (Canvas) 2) Paranhos, Adalberto. Dissonant Voice under a Regime of Order-Unity: Popular Music and Work in the Estado Novo. (Canvas) 1) Moreira da Silva. Acertei no Milhar. 1940. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) Class 3:2 Bossa Nova and Samba-Song: Samba from the Asphalt and Samba from the Hills We distinguish between Bossa Nova and samba-song the genre, the context of production and consumption and their respective places within the realm of popular music in Brazil. 1) Guillermoprieto, chapters 6, 7 and 8 (Canvas) 2) Sovik, Liv. The Girl From Ipanema Takes a Look Around: Meanings and Implications of Bossa Nova s Cosmopolitanism 1) Dolores Duran. Noite do meu bem. 2) João Gilberto. Desafinado. 1959. 3) Elza Soares. O samba está com tudo. Bossa Negra. 1961. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) 4) Tom Jobim. Garota de Ipanema. 1962. 5) Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell. Canto de Xangô. Afro-sambas. 1966. 7

Short Response Paper 2 due Class 3:3 Carnival in Rio Students continue their introduction to the behind-the-scenes preparations for Rio s immense and immensely popular carnival celebrations with a visit to a major samba school (association) technical rehearsal in preparation for the official Carnival parade in the sambadrome. Please note: this activity will take place in the evening, outside of normal classroom hours. Film 1) Ensaio Geral. 1999. Week 4 Class 4:1 Samba as the Voice of the Favelas Cultural Productions of Persecuted and Marginalized Groups Through the activism of two well-known sambistas Zé Keti and Bezerra da Silva from different period in the history of samba, in this class we will try to listen to these voices in the political context of both artists. Reading: 1) McCann, Introduction, chapters 1 & 2: Radio and Estado Novo; Samba and National Identity 2) Lorenz, Aaron. Embodying the Favela: Representation, Mediation, and Citizenship in the Music of Bezerra da da Silva 1) Zé Keti. A voz do morro. 1955. (links for listening can be found in Canvas, organized by week) 8

2) Bezerra da Silva. Eu sou favela. 2001. Class 4:2 Samba & Futebol: the national passions. We examine the intricate relations between Carnival, Samba, Futebol and the notions of Brazilianness in Brazil. Students will visit the Cidade do Samba near downtown and participate in a Carnival Experience : a hands-on look at how the Rio s top samba schools prepare their parade, including an opportunity to experiment wearing carnival outfits. Students will also be treated to a live performance by the Grande Rio samba school percussionists and dancers. 1) McCann, Bryan. Samba and National Identity. (Canvas) Film 1) Pelé eterno. 2004. 1) Jorge Ben/Benjor. Mas que nada. 1963. 2) Neguinho da Beija-Flor. O Campeão. 1979. 3) Bebeto. Praia e Sol. 1981. 4) Zeca Pagodinho. Deixa a vida me levar. 2002 Midterm Exam due Week 5 Class 5:1 Women in the World of Samba From backup vocal and dancers to composers, singers and percussionists: women fighting for recognition and respect in the samba milieu. 1) Pravaz, Natasha. Performing Mulata-ness: The Politics of Cultural Authenticity and Sexuality among Carioca Samba Dancers. (Canvas) 9 2) Mitchel, Jasmine. Popular Culture Images of the Mulatta: Constructing Race, Gender, and Nation in the United States and Brazil.

3). Sensual Not Beautiful: The Mulata as Erotic Spectacle. Film 1) Samba ladies. 2013 Class 5:2 Samba-Pagode vs. Old School Samba We explore the many faces and sounds of samba in the context of the recording industry, performance and public perception. Students will participate in a samba dance lesson. Reading: 1) McCann, Bryan. Inventing the old guard of Brazilian Popular Music. Film 1) Moro no Brasil. 2002. 1) Dona Ivone Lara. Alguém me avisou. 1982. 2) Raça Negra. Cheia de mania.1992. 3) Martinho da Vila. Pra tudo se acabar na quarta-feira. 1984. 4) Jorge Aragão. Moleque atrevido. 1999. Short Response Paper 3 due Week 6 Class 6:1 Samba in the Twenty-First Century: Sambalanço, Samba-Roque, Samba-Funk, Samba-Rap We look at some artistic mixing of samba and other (Black) music genres. Students will also visit a local museum dedicated to preserving the memory of samba. 1) Freire Filho, João and Michael Herschmann. Funk Music in Brazil: Media and Moral Panic. (Canvas) 2) Pardue, Derek. Conquistando Espaço : Hip-Hop Occupation of São Paulo. (Canvas) 10

1) Bebeto. Neguinho poeta. 1980. 2) Cidinho & Doca. Rap da Felicidade. 1994. 3) Marcelo D2. A maldição do samba. 2003 Class 6:2 A Resilient Genre: Samba as the Exú of Popular Music in Brazil The resistance and constant rebirth of samba as a music genre will be the closing topic of this course. Activity: visit a live music event (note: this activity will take place outside regular class hours) 1) Castro, Maurício Barros de. Remembering and forgetting the Kalunga Project: popular music and the construction of identities between Brazil and Angola. 2) Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. A Myth of Origins: Esu-Elegbara and the signifying Monkey. 1) Nelso Sargento. Agoniza mas não morre. 1979. Final exam due Readings Brazilian Popular Music and Globalization. Eds. Charles A. Perrone and Christopher Dunn New York: Routledge, 2002. Butler, Kim D. Order and Progress : Elite Objectives and the shaping of Abolition. Freedoms Given Freedoms Won: Afro-Brazilians in the Post-Abolition São Paulo and Salvador. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 200. Castro, Maurício Barros de. Remembering and forgetting the Kalunga Project: popular music and the construction of identities between Brazil and Angola. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, Volume 9 (2016) - Issue 1. 11

Carvalho, Bruno. Porous City: A Cultural History of Rio de Janeiro. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2015. Freire Filho, João and Michael Herschmann. Funk Music in Brazil: Media and Moral Panic. Brazilian Popular Music and Citizenship. Avelar, Idelber and Christopher Dunn, eds. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. A Myth of Origins: Esu-Elegbara and the signifying Monkey. The signifying Monkey: a theory of African-American Literary Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Guillermoprieto, Alma. Samba. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Karasch, Mary. Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro: 1808-1850. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987. McCann, Bryan. Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. Lorenz, Aaron. Embodying the Favela: Representation, Mediation, and Citizenship in the Music of Bezerra da da Silva. Brazilian Popular Music and Citizenship. Avelar, Idelber and Christopher Dunn, eds. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011. Paranhos, Adalberto. Dissonant Voice under a Regime of Order-Unity: Popular Music and Work in the Estado Novo. Brazilian Popular Music and Citizenship. Avelar, Idelber and Christopher Dunn, eds. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011. Pravaz, Natasha. Performing Mulata-ness: The Politics of Cultural Authenticity and Sexuality among Carioca Samba Dancers. Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 39, No. 2, ARTS, CULTURE, AND POLITICS: Part 1: ART, ACTIVISM, AND PERFORMANCE (March 2012), 113-133. Sovik, Liv. The Girl From Ipanema Takes a Look Around: Meanings and Implications of Bossa Nova s Cosmopolitanism. Revista di Studi Portoghesi e Brasiliani, Vol. XII (2010): 27-33. Vianna, Hermano. The Mystery of Samba: Popular Music and National Identity in Brazil. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1999. Online Resources 12 http://revistadochoro.com/category/samba-choro/

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