FORRÓ'S WARS OF MANEUVER AND POSITION: Popular Northeastern Music, Critical Regionalism, and a Culture of Migration

• Published in: Latin American research review 2011-01, Vol.46 (1), p.80-101
• Main Author: Draper, Jack A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aircraft maneuvers; Baiao; Bgi / Prodig; Brazil; Brazilian culture; Business; Cities; Cognitive problems, arts and sciences, folk traditions, folklore; Critical theory; Cultural geography; Cultural industry; Culture; Culture war; Economic opportunities; Ethnology; Ethnomusicology; Forro; Genre; Gramsci, Antonio; Hegemony; Historical analysis; Human geography; Industry; Marginalized people; Migration; Multinational corporations; Music; Music industry; Musical performances; Musical rhythm; Musical styles; Musicians; Musicians & conductors; Nationalization; Nostalgia; Popular culture; Popular music; Population geography and social geography; Regionalism; Resistance; Rio de Janeiro; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Samba; Singers; Studies; Terminology; Universities; Wages; War; Working class
• ISSN: 0023-8791; 1542-4278; 1542-4278
• DOI: 10.1353/lar.2011.0006

The article is a schematic cultural-historical analysis of a major genre of regional popular music in Brazil, baião (the precursor to today's forró). Using Gramscian terminology appropriate to a discussion of hegemony and resistance, I argue that the early proponents of baiäo had to wage a cultural war of maneuver to challenge the existing hegemony of the Rio de Janeiro culture industry and to gain new respect for the northeastern Brazilian people and their culture. After success in this initial endeavor, subsequent generations of musicians have carried on a war of position to maintain baião's, and later forros, prominence on the national stage. The article also analyzes certain common themes in forró (e.g., saudade, or nostalgia, for the home region and a critical view of the urban Southeast) as tactics that have contributed to forró's continuing relevance to Northeasterners and to its successful struggles of maneuver and position. Este artigo é urna análise cultural-histórica esquemática dum gênero significante da música popular regional no Brasil, o baião (o antecedente do forró atual). Utilizando terminología grafnsciana adequada para urna discussão de hegemonía e resistência, afirmo que os defensores originais do baião tinham de lutar numa "guerra de manobra" cultural por desafiar a hegemonia existente da indústria cultural do Rio de Janeiro e por ganhar respeitó novo para o povo nordestino e sua cultura. Depois do sucesso logrado neste esforço inicial, as gerações posteriores de músicos seguiam com urna "guerra de posição" por manter a preeminência do baião e depois do forró no palco nacional. O artigo também analisa certos temas comuns no forró—por exemplo a saudade da região natal e a perspectiva crítica do sudeste urbano—como táticas quetêm contribuido tanto à relevância contínua do forró para os nordestinos quanto às lutas bem-sucedidas de manobra e posição dos forrozeiros.