16 Soundtrack to roguery
-
Lorraine Leu
Abstract
One of the most popular samba compositions of the Rio de Janeiro carnival in 1942 was 'Praça Onze' (Eleventh Square). Through its narrative, and its visual and musical treatment of samba, Berlim na batucada rejected the symbolic economy of space generated by the state and the culture industry. Samba was the obvious choice as the soundtrack to cinematic representations of the malandro, given that a sub-genre of samba since the 1920s was devoted to celebrating his wit, courage and independence of spirit. Malandros were a product of a post-abolition society whose preference for European immigrant labour sidelined Afro-descendents from the job market, compelling many to live off illegal activities, or their wits. This culture of roguery encompassed a gamut of anti-social behaviours, such as womanising, illegal gambling, street fighting and petty crime. In addition to urbanisation processes aimed at socio-spatial stratification, malandragem was also controlled through day-to-day policing activities.
Abstract
One of the most popular samba compositions of the Rio de Janeiro carnival in 1942 was 'Praça Onze' (Eleventh Square). Through its narrative, and its visual and musical treatment of samba, Berlim na batucada rejected the symbolic economy of space generated by the state and the culture industry. Samba was the obvious choice as the soundtrack to cinematic representations of the malandro, given that a sub-genre of samba since the 1920s was devoted to celebrating his wit, courage and independence of spirit. Malandros were a product of a post-abolition society whose preference for European immigrant labour sidelined Afro-descendents from the job market, compelling many to live off illegal activities, or their wits. This culture of roguery encompassed a gamut of anti-social behaviours, such as womanising, illegal gambling, street fighting and petty crime. In addition to urbanisation processes aimed at socio-spatial stratification, malandragem was also controlled through day-to-day policing activities.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- Contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xvi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Singing of dubious desire 17
- 2 Voicing gender 30
- 3 Bien pagá 51
- 4 El otro lado de la cama 66
- 5 On the function of punk aesthetics in Salto al vacío and Historias del Kronen 83
- 6 Mobile soundscapes in the quinqui film 98
- 7 Song-shaped cinema 114
- 8 Travelling song 134
- 9 Sound moves 151
- 10 The Afro-Cuban soundscape of Mexico City 167
- 11 Blues traveller 189
- 12 Dancing in the dark 206
- 13 Re-making Frida Kahlo through song in Frida 220
- 14 ‘Silence! Fado is about to be sung’ 235
- 15 Sounds from Brazil 249
- 16 Soundtrack to roguery 264
- 17 The Brazilian chanchada’s musical moments and the performance of identity 283
- 18 Orpheus in Babylon 298
- Index 315
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- Contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xvi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Singing of dubious desire 17
- 2 Voicing gender 30
- 3 Bien pagá 51
- 4 El otro lado de la cama 66
- 5 On the function of punk aesthetics in Salto al vacío and Historias del Kronen 83
- 6 Mobile soundscapes in the quinqui film 98
- 7 Song-shaped cinema 114
- 8 Travelling song 134
- 9 Sound moves 151
- 10 The Afro-Cuban soundscape of Mexico City 167
- 11 Blues traveller 189
- 12 Dancing in the dark 206
- 13 Re-making Frida Kahlo through song in Frida 220
- 14 ‘Silence! Fado is about to be sung’ 235
- 15 Sounds from Brazil 249
- 16 Soundtrack to roguery 264
- 17 The Brazilian chanchada’s musical moments and the performance of identity 283
- 18 Orpheus in Babylon 298
- Index 315
