Indefinable,
Impossible, Multifaceted
What is
Brazilian Nationalism?
By Audrey Reeves and Jaime
Coaker
Introduction
Brazilian
Nationalism is just that...the pride of the nation, Brazil. There
are so many cultural norms, expectations, and images that go into this idea of
“Brazilianness”. There are also many different concepts such as gender, class
and race that also play into Brazilianness. Getulio Vargas, Noel Rosa, and
Carmen Miranda all had different ideas and different aspects of what it means
to be Brazilian. There’s a lot of overlap and yet a lot of controversy as well.
Basically, one person cannot represent Brazilian Nationalism. It gives an
inaccurate and partial representation of Brazil as a whole nation.
Getulio Vargas
Good Neighbor Policy
Getulio
Vargas, the president of Brazil in the 1930s, was interested in promoting
Brazilian Nationalism. Along with the rise of Brazilian Nationalism and Samba
Enredo (which exalts Brazilian Nationalism) in the 1930’s, the Good Neighbor
Policy also had a lot of influence. “President Franklin Roosevelt's inaugural
address” states that the good neighbor is, “ the neighbor who resolutely
respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others.” Its
main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the
domestic affairs of Latin America. In addition, “the policy sought to secure
Latin American cooperation in the world war effort by maintaining the flow of
petroleum and other raw materials.”[1].
"That's a big word, America. It's easy to forget how much it means . . .
We need to remember that America is two continents.... We the people of the
United Nations of America now stand together. We ought to know each other
better than we do” (Roberts: 1993, Pg. 6). The Good Neighbor Policy was
intended for just that, but accomplished something else.
Carmen As The Ultimate Good Neighbor
At
the height of the Good Neighbor Policy, Vargas sent Carmen Miranda to America
as a good ambassador to represent Brazil. She not only represented Brazil, but
all of Latin American and was now not only Brazil’s muse but also became the
United States’ muse. They used her to improve relations with North and South
America and promoted what the “ultimate good neighbor” should look like. Not
only was she a link between the two America’s, She was also, “Heaven during the
war” [World War II was happening at this time] (Carmen: 1995), helping our
friends to escape from the dark days of the war.
Working Vs. Being Happy
But
this idea of Brazilianness took a toll on Carmen. She worked so hard. She was running
from club to club to perform. She even started needing sleeping pills to sleep
and antidepressants to wake up. The fast-paced American
lifestyle/“working Brazilian” that Vargas promoted, which was basically saying
you can be about the Samba AND work, directly clashes with the mentality that a
Brazilian had: relax and concentrate on being happy. As discussed in class,
”The Brazilian would rather be happy and poor than wealthy and working too
hard!”
Noel Rosa
Rosa, the Malandro, and Vargas
As stated above, Vargas was promoting this “working Brazilian” which goes directly against Noel Rosa’s idea of the Malandro. The Malandro figure was a man completely concerned with the Samba and nothing else, not even work. "The Malandro who does not drink / who does not eat, who does not leave the samba / because samba kills hunger" (McCann: 2001, Pg. 6). The Malandro was a “flashy petty criminal disdainful of labor and domestic life, preferring to live by his wits in the brothels, gambling dens and streets of the city.” (McCann: 2001, Pg. 6). This idea of the Malandro figure was not popular with Getulio Vargas. Vargas had a very economically influenced idea of what it means to be Brazilian. He wanted to unify Brazil and promote pride of Brazil known as Brazilian Nationalism, which was about the working Brazilian. In theory, this “working Brazilian” would also have no need to steal and be this “flashy petty criminal”. He was behind Noel Rosa’s “Brazilian” up until he promoted just composing samba, which was the utmost importance, even over working and supporting a family.
Rosa and the Mulata
Another
aspect that Noel promoted as Brazilian was the idea of a Mulata woman, “a beautiful, flirtatious/vain and very dishonest
girl”, “sexually alluring, skilled practitioner of the forms of popular
culture, but is vain and deceitful and therefore threatening” (McCann:
2001, Pg. 6). According to Rosa, Malandros are
supposed to reject women. “Rejecting women...is precisely what makes him [the Malandro]
heroic, and is closely related to his skill as a sambista.” (McCann: 2001, Pg.
9). Women should just be housewives, and even work, and let the
man do Samba. Basically, the woman, who cared about raising a stable family,
AND wanted the man to work, were the women who distracted men from Samba.
Noel’s idea of what a Brazilian woman should be does not align with all of
Brazil.
Rosa and Homosociability
A
positive aspect arose from the idea that women were “destroying” the Samba: the
idea of Homosociability. Homosociability (the sticking together of men
against women) brought men together, and took prejudice against other men of
other races away, while rising the prejudice and poor treatment of women
(McCann: 2001, Pg. 9). To Noel Rosa, being Brazilian was to be about
Samba no matter the cost whether that be monetarily, relationally, or racially.
In this way, Noel Rosa’s “Brazilian” brought the men of Brazil together,
regardless of race.
Carmen Miranda
Carmen and the Upper Class
Just
the same as Noel Rosa was criticized for singing about the slums while being
from the middle class, Carmen Miranda was criticized for singing “slum music”.
Because the Samba was poor African music, the upper class thought that "a
Portuguese women (even if she was from the lower class) shouldn’t be singing
the Samba, which made the rich elite Brazilians very upset. They didn’t
think that Brazil should be represented by the slums. Rosa would agree
with her representing Brazil because she, in a way, represented the Malandro
because of her love of the Samba.
Carmen as the Representation of Brazil
As
said earlier, Carmen Miranda was sent to America to represent Brazil but she
represented a highly stereotyped and manipulated character of a “Brazilian”.
"Carmen Miranda talks not sings... and stomps around, not dances,
something imported from Rio that has a bit of Hawaiian mime.... Carmen does not
dance anything Cuban in that 'Weekend' called Havanese” (Roberts: 1993,
Pg. 9). She became this sexual yet comedic icon that “couldn’t meet all
the expectations everyone had for her” (Carmen: 1995). But at the
same time, she was a woman who loved Brazil, who being Portuguese WAS
Brazilian. She wasn’t the “ideal housewife” image that was desired by the men,
but was able to break through the “man world” and be powerful. Carmen Miranda
was the highest paid woman of her time, a woman that was able to dominate a
male dominated world, and a woman who had power. The image that she portrayed
was very different than the image of a woman Noel Rosa had and a very different
image to Americans and Brazilians. To Americans, she was the image of Latin
America but to some Brazilians she “dishonored Brazil’s name” by becoming
Americanized. She was definitely honored and scared to be given the task of
representing Brazil. And what a task it would be to be the face of Brazil. The
pressure, the expectations, the duties (plus personal problems) lead to her
end.
Carmen and the Lower Class
Although
most of the lower class loved Carmen Miranda, one of her later songs,
“Tutti-frutti” was actually censored in the country of Carnival. Carnival
was about celebrating the Brazilian Identity of the slums and was very focused
on the Afro-Brazilian aspect of the culture. Miranda didn’t fit well with
the Black lower class identity, especially because she was Portuguese.
Also, the song was sung in English, which was troublesome in two ways:
First, Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, not English. And second, America
took advantage of both Carmen Miranda and Latin America. The Good Neighbor
Policy was more about U.S.’s economic gain from fruit, especially bananas, and
the coffee Latin America had to offer and to protect the home front from war
attacks. The U.S. didn’t care to actually get to know Brazil’s culture in
depth, as represented in the song when she says, “But
if I ever start to take it off, ay, ay!...I do that once for Johnny Smith...And
he is very happy with...The lady in the tutti-frutti hat!” (Carmen:
1995). The U.S. didn’t want to get to know the real Carmen Miranda.
They just want to see, “The lady in the tutti-frutti hat.” “North
Americans do not want to learn about other countries, especially their
language. Yanquis expect us to learn their language instead” (Carmen: 1995). Carmen Miranda, as discussed in
class, didn’t represent Brazil anymore than a “drag queen”. She represented an
over the top blended mix of all of Latin America. Carnival is
supposed to celebrate Brazil’s individuality and Nationalism, and Carmen
Miranda failed to do that in the song Tutti-frutti.
Conclusion
Noel
Rosa, Carmen Miranda, and Getulio Vargas fought for Brazilianness, but all
three versions have good and bad perspectives on Brazilian identity and aren’t
whole concepts of what it means to be a Brazilian. Brazil cannot be
represented by one person; all of Brazil will never be happy with the person
that is representing Brazil. Different classes and genders all have different
ideas of who/what should represent Brazil. Different concepts like the Good
Neighbor Policy, Mulata/Malandro, and Homosociability play significant roles in
shaping Brazilian identity and nationalism. And of course, the mindset of
Brazilian’s also plays a huge factor into all three people’s version of
Brazilianness. No one song, image, or policy can truly encompass all that it
means to be a Brazilian. Brazil in and of itself is multicultural, and to
represent it accurately is impossible through one image; it must also have
multiple perspectives and multiple influences that create a unified whole.
Bibliography
1. Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business. Dir. Helena Solberg. Perf. Helena Solberg, Eric Barreto, Cynthia Adler. 1995. Film.
2. Class Discussion. Narr. Paula Gandara and Classmates’ Presentations. Irvin 224, Oxford. 12-25 Feb. 2013. Performance.
3. McCann, Bryan. "Noel Rosa's Nationalist Logic." The University of Wisconsin Press Journals Division 38.1 (2001): 1-16. Print.
4. Online Highways LLC. <http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1646.html>.
5. Roberts, Shari. ""The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat": Carmen Miranda, a Spectacle of Ethnicity." Cinema Journal 32.3 (1993): 3-23. Print.
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