Mats of Corpus Christi

Here’s a few of the colorful matting laid down all over the country in honor of Corpus Christi (number three, perhaps not for kids). Picture credits: O Globo.

Mamulengo – Puppetry Brazilian style

I just got back from an excellent free showing of a Brazilian art called Mamulengo, performed by Chico Simões, which according to the handout,

“…is the most traditional and popular kind of puppet theater in Brazil. Passed along over the centuries by itinerant performers, mamulengo reveals the influence of the Italian Commedia Dell’Arte and African cultural aesthetics. The form is still alive in the Brazilian countryside and in the marginalized outskirts of big cities.”

More specifically, mamulengo is a type of typical puppet from Northeastern Brazil, especially in the state of Pernambuco. The origin of the name is controversial, but it is believed that it comes from mão molenga (soft or floppy hand), ideal for giving life to the puppets.

Chico Simões & Culture Points

(Source)

Chico Simões is currently the University of Berkeley’s Distinguished Writer in Residence occupying the Mario de Andrade Chair with the support of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Center for Latin American Studies. Chico is a puppeteer, an educator, and the director of a Ponto de Cultura (Culture Point) known as Invenção Brasileira (Brazilian Invention). Sponsered by the National Ministry of Culture, thre are presently over almost two-thousand of these Pontos throughout Brazil. There are also three in the USA, including one in San Francisco (see links on San Francisco). The purpose of the Pontos is to use art forms to effect social change in marginal communities.

Mr Simões distinguishes his art form as traditional (alive and envolving) as opposed to folkloric, which he describes as immune to improvisation (much like a museum display). Mr Simões’ shows incorporate the theatrical language of “Grammelot” that dates back to the 16th century in Italy, and involves a mix of languages, sounds, gibberish and onomatopoeic elements. Since 1983, he has been travelling throughout Brazil, studying, lecturing and giving presentations of mamulengo, in addition to various other traditional forms.

Characteristics

To the folklorist Câmara Cascudo, the mamulengo is the same as the French guignol and the Italian pupazzi. In all of them, there is a cloth in front, behind which hides either one or two manipulators that give voice and movement to the dolls.

The presentations are given in a public square, generally in the outskirts of town during religious festivals, presenting both religious and present-day themes. Mamulengo itself has been practiced since the colonial era, depicting the daily lives of the people in a format which is generally comical and satirical.

Further Info

Videos, Music and More

Music is sometimes played alongside the puppet theater, usually in the style of Forró. See a short video here. As well as being played alongside the theater, sometimes the puppeteers themselves sing, as can be seen here. For a lot more videos and information as well as photos, see this story on Mamulengo, The Theater of Laughter. Recife Guide also has a story on the art form.

Museum

In the city of Olinda, the Espaço Tiridá – Museum of Mamulengo aims to preserve the tradition of the dolls, counting among its collection close to 1,500 pieces, aside from showcasing daily presentations.

The Museum is maintained by the municipality of Olinda, with antique pieces preserving the memory of the popular masters of the art form, like Saúba, Tonho de Pombos, Luiz da Serra, Pedro Rosa, Zé Lopes, Antônio Biló, Manuel Marcelino, etc.

How the Mamulengo puppets are made (PT)

Carimbó – The magical song of the Amazon

(foto: ParaTur)

The Carimbó is considered an indigenous musical style, however like other Brazilian cultural manifestations, it mixed with and received other influences. Its name in Tupi refers to the drum (curimbó) with which the rhythm is marked. The carimbó itself as African origins which are present in the percussive rhythm and both its Portuguese (the snapping sound made with the fingers and the palms in certain parts of the dance) as well as European influences, or rather the melodies of the colonizers. Appearing in the area of Belém in the Salgado region (Marapanim, Curuça, Algodoal) and on the Island of Marajó, it became a traditional dance which later, when influenced by a more modern rhythm, lent to the creation of the Lambada and the Zouk (a musical style from the French West Indies).

Instruments

In its traditional form, it’s accompanied by drums formed from tree trunks. At some point, the name of these drums came to be called “curimbó”, which is a corruption of the word Carimbó. They are also used together with the maracá, an indigenous rattle used in ceremonial war dances.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, more modern instruments were added to the Carimbó (such as guitars) as well as cúmbia and merengue influences from Colombia. The modern rhythm became popular in the Brazilian Northeast and gave birth to the lambada, which spread internationally (ironically popularized by a Bolivian musical group, Los K’jarkas).

The original instrumental formation of the carimbó was composed of two curimbós: one on top of the other in reference to the timbers or tones (agudo and grave) of the instruments; a wood flute (generally made from ebony or acapú wood, deriving from the Northeastern rustic flute made of bambu and used by the first Christians to pay homage to the Virgin Mary), maracás and a rural guitar with four cords, later substituted by the handcrafted banjo (made of wood, nylon chords and deer skin). Today, the instrumental part of the carimbó incorporates other wind instruments such as flutes, clarinets and saxophones.

Additional history

Being the preferred music of the Marajoan fishermen, although not yet known as carimbó at the time, the rhythm spread across the Guajará bay (where Belém is situated) by these fishermen and landed on the beaches of the Salgado region of Pará. In a region neighboring the cities of Marapanim and Curuçá, the genre solidified itself, earning the name it carries to this day. Maranhãozinho, in the municipality of Marapanim; and Aranquaim, in Curuçá, are two of the places that in recent times have reclaimed the paternity of the genre. In Marapanim, in the Salgado region in the Northeast of Pará, the genre has been cultivated well in the annual event known as the  ”Festival de Carimbó de Marapanim — O Canto Mágico da Amazônia” (”Carimbó Festival of Marapanim – The Magical Song of the Amazon”), in the month of November.

For an idea of how the curimbó instrument sounds, see the video below!

To hear some of the Carimbó music, here’s Pinduca singing Garota do Tacacá (a song about the best dishes from Pará)

For more of an idea of what the dance looks like, see the video below

The Ritual

The dance is presented in pairs. It starts with two rows of men and women facing the center. When the music begins, the men follow the women while clapping as a way of inviting the women to the dance. Immediately, the pairs form, turning continually around each other and at the same time forming a big circle that goes counter-clockwise. At this point, the indigenous influence shows itself, when the dancers make certain body movements with their bodies thrust forwards and one foot in front of the other. The women, full of charm, customly have fun at their partners by holding the ends of their dresses, waiting for the moment when their partners are distracted in order to hit them in the face with this part of their clothing. This always provokes shouts and laughs from the other dancers. The gentleman that is booed by his own companion is forced to abandon the dance area. At a determined moment in the carimbó dance, one couple goes to the center to enact the famous turkey dance or “Peru de Atalaia”, where the gentleman is forced to pick up a hankerchief his partner dropped using just his mouth. In case the gentleman doesn’t succeed, his partner hits him in the face with her dress and subjected to the boos of the others, must leave the dance area. If he succeeds, he is applauded.

The Ribbon of Bonfim – Souvenir of Salvador

The Fita do Bonfim (Ribbon of Bonfim) which is also known as the fitinha do Bonfim (little ribbon…) is a typical souvenir and amulet from Salvador, Bahia.

History

The original ribbon was created in 1809, having disappeared by the beginning of the 1950’s. Known as the ‘medida do Bonfom’ (measure of Bonfim), its name is owed to the fact that the exact measurements of 47 cm long, the length of the right arm of the statue of Jesus Christ, ‘Senhor do Bonfim’, situated on the high-altar of Bahia’s most famous church. The image was sculpted in Setúbal, in Portugal in the 23rd century. The ‘medida’ was made of silk, with the design and the name of the embroidered saint and complimented with golden or silver tint. It was worn around the neck like a necklace, where saints and medallions were hung, working as a type of currency: upon making good on a promise, the faithful carried a photo or a small sculpture of beeswax representing the part of the body which was cured with the help of the saint. As a souvenir, these ribbons would be acquired, symbolizing the church itself.

No one knows when the transition occurred from the old style ribbon to the new one (worn around the wrist), although the new ribbon was popularized by the street vendors of Salvador around the 1960’s, when it was also adopted by the Bahian hippies as part of their style of dressing.

Colors

Sold in diverse colors, the Fita do Senhor do Bonfim possesses a side that few actually know: each color symbolizes an Orixá (or deity of the Yoruba religion). Dark green is for the deity Oxossi, light blue for Iemanjá, yellow for Oxum…Whichever the color, the ribbon holds a symbolic, aesthetic and spiritual representation typical of the Afro-Brazilian culture. Practically speaking, the colors represent various positive words (such as blue for prosperity).

Usage

The famous fitas have been used by Brazilian designers locally and nationally in many different ways. To see an example, check out this page from Namira. Aside from their fashion statement, the user must have three knots tied and if the ribbon falls off naturally, the wishes will be granted. According to Travelvice.com…

“Multiple chances for a miracle, or chances for multiple miracles, are obtained as the wearer makes a wish each time one of three knots are tied to secure the fita around the wrist.

No wish will be granted unless the cloth is permitted to wear until it disintegrates naturally, and falls from the wrist of its accord. If you remove or cut the ribbon yourself the wishes will not—never?—come true and invites bad luck and misfortune upon you.

If you plan to stay the course and leave the ribbon on, it’s a serious commitment. The typical fita is rumored to fall off after a handful of months, but I’ve read stories of ribbons staying intact for anywhere from six months to two years after they were tied!

There was one Internet source found that said you must never purchase your own ribbons, but only accept them as gifts. Additionally, some sites mention a third party should tie the knots for you, as you make your wishes.”

My personal favorite use of these fitas is the canga (which a friend of mine is wearing)…

Live and let live

Why there are groups out there trying to force their ways on others, I’ll never understand. Just as Amerindians couldn’t care less who Sir Issac Newton is, they equally don’t care about changing their spiritual beliefs. 

ABC did a short on a group of Missionaries who are attempting to coerce others to not think for themselves. Here’s the link.

Germans in (Southern) Brazil

“German immigration to Brazil started in 1824 — just after Brazil won independence from Portugal — as a result of Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro I’s (1798-1834) need to populate uninhabited regions of the huge country. Such regions were being disputed with neighbouring countries such as Argentina and Paraguay. Uruguay was just becoming independent. Those countries were by then former Spanish colonies, as all of South America was becoming independent, and all of them were interested in receiving European knowledge, expertise and labor.

Some Brazilian states received higher inflows of Germans than others. Such was the case in Rio Grande do Sul, where the first “wave” of immigrants was settled in the 1820s. In 1827, a group of Germans migrated to Brazil from the region of Trier. This was the first official German migration to Brazil. Part of this group (mainly Catholic married men) came to the farm called “Fazenda Guarei,” which is today a small town in the state of São Paulo called Guarei. These Germans are considered the founders of Guarei.

A second “wave” went to Santa Catarina in the 1850s, but also to Rio de Janeiro, in smaller number, mainly to a city called Petropolis, where the Emperor Dom Pedro II’s summer house (nowadays the Imperial Museum) was located. Other German immigration waves occurred in the 1890s, as well as after the First and Second World War. The latter emigres were not necessarily only refugees, but also people who were tired of the war. They had different destinations: to the states of Sao Paulo, to Paraná, and to the other Brazilian states.

In the mid-to-late-19th century, many German-Russians migrated to the state of Paraná, more specifically, to near Ponta Grossa city, in Campos Gerais region (a savannah). After a failure in wheat cultivation, many re-emigrated to Argentina or the USA.

On August 12, 1950, five hundred Donauschwaben families were invited to immigrate to the region of Entre Rios (Portuguese for between the rivers) in the highlands (1200 meters altitude) of the state of Paraná. The first settlers arrived at the port of Santos, Brazil in June of 1951, settling in Entre Rios with the intent of growing wheat. The area was not prepared for cultivation, there were no buildings at all, nor were settlers exactly welcomed. Rattlesnakes roamed the country. Every couple was assigned 15 hectares of land, with an additional 8 for each son or 4 for each daughter, and a house of either 72 or 42 square meters depending on family size. House and land were assigned on a loan basis; repayment to occur in about ten years time.

The first church was erected in 1957-8. The chief town is Vitoria, others in order of their founding are Jordaozinho, Cochoeire, Socorro and Samambaia. The towns were named for the previous owners of the land, which the settlers were helped to purchase by the Swiss charitable organization Europahilfe.

During the 1960’s, many of the settlers returned to Germany or Austria. Forty-two families left in 1963 alone. As of 1992, only about 5% of the original houses still remained, the rest having been replaced by more permanent structures. About 2,000 of the settlers and their descendants still make their homes here, continuing to speak the donauschwäbische dialect.

Paraná and Sao Paulo have also seen a large number of German immigrants. Through the years, the descendants of these immigrants have spread out to other Brazilian regions, yet the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná are known for their concentrations of German descendants, while in other states there are rather “pockets” of them in cities such as Sao Paulo (capital of Sao Paulo state) and Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro state).” – Source

(First video in PT)

(Apparently 2:45-2:56 in the video, depicts an Italian dance)  

(Second video in English)

Círio de Nazaré – Belem do Pará

(Círio de Nazaré de outrora – Skyscraper City)

- excerpt take from Brazil

Additionally, there are a select few professional photographs here.

Lampião and the Cangaço gang

Lampião (”Oil Lamp” in Portuguese) was the nickname of “Captain” Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, the most famous leader of a Cangaço band (marauders and outlaws who terrorized the Brazilian Northeast in the 1920s and 1930s).

Biography

Virgulino was born in June 7, 1897 in the village of Serra Talhada, in the sertão (semi-arid backlands) of the state of Pernambuco, as the third child of José Ferreira da Silva and Maria Lopes, a humble family of peasants. Until 21 years old, he was a hard-working leathercraft artisan (he was also literate and used reading glasses — both quite unusual features for the rough and poor region where he lived). He lived with his family in a deadly feud with other local families until his father was killed in a confrontation with the police in 1919. Virgulino sought vengeance and proved to be extremely violent in doing so. He became an outlaw and was incessantly pursued by the police (whom he called macacos or monkeys). In the next 19 years, with his small band of cangaceiros (men of cangaço) which was never larger than about 50 heavily armed men on horses wearing leather outfits including hats, jackets, and trousers to protect them from the thorns of the caatinga (dry shrubs and brushwood typical of the dry hinterland of Brazil’s Northeast), sandals, and ammunition belts. Their weapons were mostly stolen from the police and paramilitary units and consisted of Mauser military riflesand a variety of smaller firearms including Winchester rifles, revolvers and the prized Mauser semi-automatic pistol. Lampião used to attack small cities and farms in seven states, kill people and cattle, take hostages for ransom, torture, fire-brand, maim, rape, and ransack. He was joined in 1930 by his girlfriend, Maria Déa, nicknamed Maria Bonita, who, like other women in the band, dressed like cangaceiros and participated in many of their actions. They had a daughter in 1932.

Death

Finally, on July 28, 1938, Lampião and his band were betrayed by one of his supporters and were ambushed in one of his hideouts, the Angico farm, in the state of Sergipe, by a police troop armed with machine guns. In a quick battle, Lampião, Maria Bonita and 9 of his troops were killed. Their heads were cut and sent off to Salvador, the capitol of Bahia, for examination by specialists at the State Forensic Institute, and later, for public exhibition, and only after 1971 the families of Lampião and Maria Bonita were able to reclaim the preserved heads to finally bury them.

Folk Hero

Thus started the legend of Lampião and Maria Bonita, who became subjects of innumerable folk stories, books, popular pamphlets (cordel literature), songs, movies, and a number of TV soap operas, with all the elements of drama, passion, and violence typical of “Far West” stories. By many, he was considered a folk hero, a kind of Robin Hood and the head of apeasant revolt against the all-dominant, feudal farmers of the region (the so-called coronels). The fact remains that he was the most notorious of the many rural bandits (in his own admission) that infested the poor hinterland of Northeast Brazil.

For a photo album of cangaceiros set to music, see the video below, (which was) followed by a Joan Baez song called ‘Muié Rendera’ which is typical of the music of the time. Muié is short for mulher, or woman, although not a word for educated people. Render means to render, yeild, command or pay.

Joan Baez – Muié Rendera (removed by Youtube)

Olê muié rendera 
Olê muié rendá

Tu me ensina a fazê renda (You teach me to make a living)
Que eu te ensino a namorá (And I’ll teach you to date)

Lampião desceu a serra (Lampião came down from the mountain)
Num baile da cangaceira (For a cangaceira dance)

Olê muié rendera
Olê muié rendá

Saci – One-Legged Wish Granter

The Saci is arguably the most popular character in Brazilian folklore. He is a one-legged black or mulatto youngster with holes in the palms of his hands, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes (usually in the middle of a dust devil). Considered an annoying prankster in most parts of Brazil, and a potentially dangerous and malicious creature in others, he will nevertheless grant wishes to anyone who manages to trap him or steal his magic cap.

There are several variants of the myth, including:

• Saci Pererê. black as coal.
• Saci Trique. mulatto and more benign.
• Saci Saçurá, with red eyes.

Saci Pererê is also the name of a Brazilian cocktail consisting of 1/4 cup of cachaça and 3 tablespoons of honey, which is said to be good for the common cold.

The character remains quite popular in present-day urban culture, mainly due to the immensely popular children’s book O Saci by Monteiro Lobato (1932).

Blame It On Rio Saci

An incorrigible prankster, the Saci will not cause major harm, but there is no little harm that he won’t do. He will hide children’s toys, set farm animals loose, tease dogs, and curse chicken eggs preventing them from hatching. In the kitchen, the Saci would spill all salt, sour the milk, burn the bean stew, and drop flies into the soup. If a popcorn kernel fails to pop, it is because the Saci cursed it. Given half a chance, he will dull the seamstress’s needles, hide her thimbles, and tangle her sewing threads. If he sees a nail lying on the ground, he will turn it with the point up. In short, anything that goes wrong — in the house, or outside it — may be confidently blamed on the Saci.

Origins

While some claim that the Saci myth originated in Europe in the 13th century, it probably derives from the Yaçi-Yaterê of Tupi-Guarani mythology, a magic one-legged child with fire-red hair who would spell-bind people and break the forest’s silence with his loud shouts and whistles. He was originally a creature of the night, and indeed the Yaçi (Template:Ipa) means “Moon” in Old Tupi.

This indigenous character was appropriated and transformed in the 18th century by the African slaves who had been brought in large numbers to Brazil. Farm slaves would tell Saci stories to amuse and frighten the children, black and white. In this process the creature became black, his red hair metamorphosed into a red cap, and — like the African elders who usually told the tales — he came to be always smoking his clay-and-reed pipe. His name mutated into various forms, such as Saci Taperê and Sá Pereira (a common Portuguese name), and eventually Saci Pererê.

His red cap may have been inspired on the Phrygian cap which was at one time worn by Portuguese peasants. The Saci-Pererê concept shows some syncretism with Christian elements: he bolts away when faced with crosses, leaving behind a sulphurous smell — classical attributes of the Devil in Christian folklore.

The concepts of imprisoning a supernatural being in a bottle by a magically marked cork, and of forcing him to grant wishes in return of his liberty, have obvious parallels in the story of Aladdin from the Arabian Nights. This may be more than just a coincidence, since many slaves were Muslims and thus presumably familiar with the Arabian tales. Moreover, the occupation of parts of the Portuguese territory (namely in the south) by the Muslim Moors, between the years 711 and 1249, provides another possible path for Arabian influence on the Saci legend.

Macumba – Black Magic?

The Brazilian View

Macumba is a word of African (Bantu) origins. Various explanations of its meaning include “a musical instrument”, the name of a Central African deity, and simply “magic”. It was the name used for all Bantu religious practices mainly in Rio de Janeiro in the 19th Century and even today it will be confused with Candomblé (even though in Macumba there are no vestiges of Christianity nor of Orixás, among other things).

The word “macumba” is frequently used in Brazil to refer to any ritual or religion of African origin (as slang), and although its use by non-practitioners remains largely pejorative in intent (referring to all sorts of religious (or otherwise) superstitions and luck-related rituals and beliefs), and is considered offensive, its use among actual practitioners is not viewed negatively. In Brazil one can find expressions such as “chuta que é macumba” (”kick it out, for it is witchcraft!”) to show disagreement with bad luck.

It is quite normal outside of the bigger cities to hear about who in town is doing macumba. I was told that a neighbor of mine was a part-time macumbeiro (a practitioner) and a computer repairman the rest of the time. Also, much like in voodoo, if someone gets a hold of a lock of your hair, it is said jokingly that they will do macumba on you.

African Origins

Macumba is also practiced in equatorial Africa, in particular in both the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is some indication this “religion” originated. As the Bantu are found in the Congos, it is reasonable to assume it was transplanted by slaves from Congo to Brazil.

As observed in the Republic of Congo in Brazzaville, Macumba is practiced by females exclusively, who were noted as having set-up tables and selling various herbs to passersby. There is also a link to the usage of various jungle intoxicants by practicers of Macumba.

Example

In the Amazonian city of Santarem, Para State, there is a shop which sells materials related to Macumba in the central part of the city. One symbol of Macumba in Amazonas is that of a Black man wearing a white Fedora hat. There appears to be a relationship with the concept of the Boto (the fresh-water porpoise found in the Amazonas River and its tributaries) having shape-shifting abilities and then while in the form of a human male having sexual relations with young women. This belief was noted in several Indian villages along the Amazonas (Solimoes) River, Rio Negro and Japura River.

As an example of how Macumba functions, if a person desires to receive money, he/she visits a person or a shop specializing in Macumba, such as the one in Santarem. After paying a sum to the specialist, the person is then given a certain herb gathered in the jungle and is told to put the herb in bathwater and told to bath in it daily for seven days. The person utilizing the herb is then supposed to receive money thereafter. In Brazil it appears that males often are involved in the dispensing of Macumba knowledge/spells/materials

Enfim (Ultimately)

It is difficult to pin-point exactly what Macumba is, as it includes a wide variety of beliefs and is not static or defined to any extent. The only absolute statement which can be made in reference to Macumba is that in both Congo and Brazil Macumba uses plants and herbs gathered from the jungle and the knowledge of a person experienced in its usage to bring about an event or a desired effect for the person seeking to use Macumba.

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