Quando canta o Brasil: uma análise do samba urbano carioca na Rádio Nacional nos anos 1950.

Abstract

This dissertation focus on the process of representation of the urban samba from Rio de Janeiro in 1950s and its rebirth as a modern icon in Brazil. The research endeavours to interpret the drivers of this transformation, its consequences and its influence on the construction of the Brazilian identity. The greater part of the body of work is constituted by songs from the radio programme Quando Canta o Brasil, broadcast by Rádio Nacional from 1952 to 1957. This primary source supports the analyses of the different types of samba broadcast in the programme and their subsequent development in related sub-types. A snapshot of the urban samba from Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s, organised according to its types, is presented. The research examines the use of popular music as a starting point in the aggregation of a national identity and takes into consideration the appropriation of samba, by the government of the then President Getúlio Vargas, as an icon for national reference. The importance of the Brazilian National Orchestra (at that period conducted by Radamés Gnattali) in the process of representation of samba is also analysed, through the prism of the radio programme’s repertoire. The research carried out indicated that, after being converted as a national icon, the samba goes through a process of change, adopting a new style and distancing itself from its original forms of expression established at the end of the 19th century in Rio de Janeiro. The bulk of the academic literature is embedded on the concepts of heterogeneity and transcultural mediation by Hermano Vianna (1995), and of the musical-theoretic path by Carlos Sandroni (2001), which point towards the stylistic changes that took place in the rhythm of samba and illustrate a new pattern for its social significance. Listening is perceived as an active, dynamic endeavour, capable of constructing new meanings on both the individual and collective levels, and influencing societal interactions. Identity is seen as an interrelational element, built upon multiple exchanges in the diverse social environments and in the interpersonal sphere. Music is approached as a key building block in the construction of the Brazilian identity, mediating often distinct contexts, social groups, sounds and social codes—through samba.