Cultural heritage, resistance and festivity: A bird’s-eye view of Brazilian Carnival

The word Carnival is commonly believed to originate from the Latin carne vale, meaning “farewell to meat,” though some scholars suggest it may derive from carrus navalis, referring to ancient Roman processions. While Pope Gregory I (590–604 AD) played a key role in shaping Christian liturgical practices, the 40-day Lenten fast was already a well-established tradition. Carnival, with its roots in pre-Christian festivals like Saturnalia and Lupercalia, became a time of feasting and celebration before the austerity of Lent, blending ancient traditions with Christian observances.

Carnival may not have had its origin in Brazil, but without any doubt, the Brazilian way of celebrating this event is different from the whole world! Even within Brazil, we find differences in several regions. For instance, Frevo, which comes from the word ferver and means 'to boil', refers metaphorically to the upbeat rhythm that captures everyone and is a typical folkloric dance performed during Carnival in the state of Pernambuco. It is composed of a mixture of polka, maxixe and the Afro-Brazilian martial arts-dance capoeira, and it is considered an intangible heritage by UNESCO.

Festive Origins

Brought to Brazil by the Portuguese, Carnival began in Brazil as the Entrudo. The first reports of the Entrudo in Brazil took place in Pernambuco in 1553 and consisted of a street celebration that preceded Lent. Slaves and people from lower social classes would go to the streets and throw items such as water, starch, and lemons. This can be seen through two different perspectives. The French artist Jean Baptiste Debret portrayed the Entrudo on the streets in his painting Carnival Scene (1823). On the other hand, most of the elite would watch the Entrudo at home and throw parties at home since it was considered immoral in that period. English painter Augustus Earle typified this viewpoint in his 1822 painting “Games” during the carnival at Rio de Janeiro.

Debret also wrote about Carnival in Brazil in his book Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil (Picturesque and historical trip to Brazil), where he reports on the festivities (p. 103):

Le carnaval, à Rio-Janeiro, et dans toutes les provinces du Brésil, ne rappelle généralement ni les bals masqués, ni les files bruyantes des gens déguisés qui, chez nous, circulent à pied ou en voiture dans les rues les plus fréquentées, ni les courses de chevaux libres si usitées en Italie.

Carnival, in Rio de Janeiro, and in all the provinces of Brazil, generally reminds neither of masked balls, nor of the noisy lines of people in disguise who, in our country, walk or drive in the busiest streets, nor the races of free horses used in Italy.

Around 1850, José de Alencar, an influential Brazilian writer who was the author of the Indianist trilogy O Guarani (1857), Iracema (1865), and Ubirajara (1874), along with other intellectuals and journalists, began to criticize the Entrudo and to seek new alternatives for celebrations, using the Venice Carnival as inspiration. The Entrudo lost strength at the end of the 19th century, and the high society started organizing masquerade balls with music and created Carnival societies that would organize parades on the streets afterward.

Rhythms of Carnival

Carnival marchinhas, like the example from Gonzaga, became popular. Musicians Vicente Paiva and Jararaca wrote Mamãe eu quero (Mom, I want it) in 1937, which became one of the greatest Carnival songs. The song became known worldwide after the interpretation of Carmen Miranda, a Brazilian broadway actress, in her Hollywood debut with the film Down Argentine Way.

Although samba may be more well-known, the main musical style of Brazilian Carnival has its origin in the state of Bahia in the late 19th century. The main musical style of the state is Axé, and people celebrate it accompanied by trios elétricos on the streets. Samba became popular in Rio de Janeiro, first in the city suburbs along with escolas de samba (samba schools) that are Carnival associations. The first samba school Deixa Falar was created in 1928. In Rio, competitions take place at the Sambódromo Marquês de Sapucaí, the heart of the city's Carnival, built by Brazilian world-renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer who designed other iconic works in Brazil, such as the capital Brasília. Today several samba schools compete in an annual parade, a tradition mostly found in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The Queens of Drums perform solo dances as their main attractions.

The escolas de samba are also a way to protest against social and political issues in the country. For example, the Beija-flor samba school portrayed corruption in the country in 2018, and in 2019, the Mangueira samba school protested the unsolved murder of the Rio LGBT activist and politician Marielle Franco. (Cover image: Samba school parade in São Paulo, Brazil - Credit: Pexels.)

There are many films that portray Carnival in Brazil. Among them, my favorite is the Italian-French-Brazilian film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) of 1959, inspired by the The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The movie takes place in a slum in the city of Rio de Janeiro during the Rio Carnival. The movie, adapted from the play Orfeu da Conceição by Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes, presents features of Carnival in the county. The movie, directed by French director Marcel Camus, won the Oscar and Golden Globe in 1960 for Best Foreign Movie, among other awards, and it is available on YouTube with English subtitles.

I really hope that by now, you are filled with enthusiasm and the Carnival spirit. Right after Christmas and New Year's Eve, the whole country usually begins preparing for this vibrant celebration that attracts tourists from all over the world. There is even a verb, carnavalizar, which means to get into the Carnival spirit and celebrate it.

As one of my favorite Brazilian bands, Os Tribalistas, sings in Carnavália, an ode to the festival:

"Vamos pra avenida, desfilar a vida, carnavalizar."

(“Let’s go to the avenue, parade through life, carnavalizar!”)

By Mateus Souza

Reference:

DEBRET, Jean Baptiste (1768-1848). Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil ou Séjour d'un artiste français au Brésil depuis 1816 jusqu'en 1831 inclusivement. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1834-39.