Brazilian Carnaval

“Carnival is held four days prior to Ash Wednesday, which is the mark of the beginning of Lent. So, carnival can be considered as an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh as you remember from the Christian studies. Brazilian carnival is very distinct, because it has used the occasion to express its culture and regional manifestations.

Carnival is a national festivity, but more to the young people. Families look more for peaceful places to rest, such as beaches and resorts.  It’s a common that businesses only start after carnival, since it usually takes place in the beginning of the year sometime in February. So, nobody wants to do much before carnival. Carnival happens in the summer, so the dress code is very casual, even in the expensive clubs. Men typically wear t-shirts, shorts, sandals, shirt, and pants. Women wear semi naked to very casual dress.

The famous carnival is in Rio, where there are the famous samba schools, very large well financed organizations that work the entire year in preparation for carnival. They parade over four entire nights as part of the official competition. In the northeast, specifically in Bahia, the carnival is different, but also very famous. The fun takes place more in the streets, where trucks are equipped with giant speakers and a platform where musicians play, called “trio eletrico”.  Massive numbers of people follow the trucks singing and dancing. The music is also different in the northeast. They have many regional rhythms, including axe and frevo especially.

I spent almost all carnival during my college time in the northeast, especially in Bahia and Pernambuco. My best trip was a almost 30 days or more travelling with 3 friends in a trailer and a jeep from SP to Rio Grande do Norte, which is the farthest tip of northeastern Brazil. During carnival, we enjoyed the street fun, went to clubs sometimes, and also enjoyed the beaches which are beautiful and vast in the northeast as you know. Tried a lot of typical northeast food (very spicy, lots of seafood) and learned some of their culture, although at that time we were more interested in fun like you. You can imagine carnival, the dirt and lack of hygiene, which lasted four days in the streets, were the only drawbacks that I can remember.” – Peter Wen

Analysis:

My dad told me about this history of this festival, which did not originally start in Brazil. The word carnival dates back hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Catholics in Italy started this tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival “carnevale,” which means “to put away the meat.”  The word is derived from the Latin words, “carne vale.” As time progressed, carnivals in Italy became famous and spread to other Catholic parts of Europe. As these European countries started to colonize parts of the Americas, the tradition of celebrating the carnival spread into those regions as well. The Portuguese brought Carnaval to Brazil. It is the last week to partake in festivities before the period of “quaresma,” a time when Catholics celebrate Lent and cannot have sex or eat meat. He even mentioned how the popularity of Carnaval has influenced another festivity-related event, Carnatal. This festival usually takes place before Carnaval, during the month of December in Natal (the capital of the Reio Grande do Norte state in the very northeast of Brazil). The name combines the words “carnaval” and “Natal.” During this festival, people also play traditional Carnaval music and dance and sing in the streets for about a week’s span. As we learned in class, this would exemplify the idea of multiplicity and variation since these Brazilian festivals sprung from the original Carnival celebrated in Europe.

My dad elaborated more about his memories of Carnaval than the actual history of the festival (he has lived in Brazil for approximately 20 years). Both locals and tourists engage in the same activities, some of which include dancing, singing, and feasting. He says:

“But one thing I can say about the people I saw on the streets, at the clubs and everywhere is that they wanted to have fun more than ever during those four days, like the farewell party. They forget the sadness of their lives and throw themselves into partying and whatever else comes during those days. My first time in the northeast during the Carnaval time was very unique. Being Asian and very few in those areas at that time, I could call attention wherever I went, specifically when I exposed myself sometimes dancing on the tables around the hundreds of kiosks, which was common for carnival on the streets. Friends who travelled with me were fun and also intellectual, so we had good debates during our trips, although less in degree if I compare to the States.  Those years of travelling were important to me as a way to learn to be more independent and confident, since I was still leaving with my parents until coming to the States, a different concept in Brazil. In addition, seeing different parts of the country, I felt more Brazilian and understood more of what Brazil was all about.”

The week of Carnaval is explored in the article, “Sex and Violence in Brazil: ‘carnaval, capoeira,’ and the Problem of Everyday Life,” by J. Lowell. This article basically explores how the themes of sex and violence are manifested in the annual festival of Carnaval and the traditional Brazilian dance, capoeria. It is a popular misconception to think that Brazilian Carnaval is “the furthest possible departure from the ordinary experience.” (540) This article tries to argue the contrary; that the rituals and traditions performed during Carnaval accurately reflect the everyday Brazilian experience.

The festival is much more than just a week of partying as demonstrated in the article. It is important for both native Brazilians and tourists to be aware of the festival’s origins and develop an appreciation for its religious and cultural meanings. According to a Brazilian friend of mine at USC, most young people today learn about the history of Carnaval from their history or Portuguese teachers, rather than their parents, which shows how uninformed native Brazilians are about their own culture’s traditions, let alone tourists who are generally more interested in the partying aspect than the historical significance.

Annotation: Lowell, J. “Sex and Violence in Brazil: ‘Carnaval, Capoeira,’ and the Problem of Everyday Life.” American Ethnologist (1999). JSTOR. 22 Apr. 2008.

Swiss Festival- Fêtes des Vignerons de Vevey

“This is not only a wine festival. For the Swiss it represents the celebration of 2 rural communities: the wine growers and the farmers living in the mountains and producing cheese. Usually the show is very well balanced and gives the same importance and visibility to wine growers from the lake side region and the “armaillis” coming from the “Fribourg” state. Among traditional families living in both regions it is not rare to have 2 to 3 generations taking part to the show as every participant is non-professional.

Traditionally, the emotion is at its peak when the “armaillis” are singing the “Ranz des vaches.” This song is well known by all the Swiss and it is a kind of regional hymn. In the old days when Swiss people used to be mercenary soldiers in the various European courts, it was considered as a national hymn. The song is written in a local dialect and the typical alphorn instruments are supporting the melody.” –Gino

Analysis:

Gino is a client and family friend of my dad’s and told me about this wine festival, which interestingly enough takes place roughly every generation. It is the world’s greatest wine festival and has taken place in the years 1905, 1927, 1955, 1977, and 1999 (the most recent festival to occur). While Gino is Italian, he was born and educated in the French speaking part of Switzerland, which is why he’s so familiar with the festival. However, he admits that he doesn’t have the same emotional ties to the event as the Swiss do. He has a few memories here and there of the event in the years 1977 and 1999. Although he wasn’t in the middle of the festival during 1977, he followed the events on TV and vividly remembers the main performance, “Lyoba.” In 1999, he was living right in the middle of the wine producing region. Almost the entire village was involved in the event. As an outsider of Italian origin, Gino was impressed with the dedication and efforts put forth by the non-professional actors who put together a great performance. The preparation went on for more than a year and is comparable to the famous preparation of the Samba School in Rio de Janeiro.

I found an article about this event on the New York Times website, “Travel Advisory; Swiss Winemakers Prepare to Party,” by Christopher Hall and published in December 27, 1998. It gives a rundown of the festival’s activities. It also provides basic statistics of the event’s normal turnout. Over 450,000 visitors celebrate in the town of Vevey (population 70,000) near the eastern end of Lake Geneva. The festival that year (1999) was organized by the Confrerie des Vignerons, a trade guild created back in the 17^th century to promote the wine industry in the two wine regions of Lavaux and Chablais. The guild’s job was to build an arena fit for 16,000 people in Vevey’s Market Square, which faces the snowcapped French Alps. The main event is usually a performance. That year, 4600 actors, singers, and artists (mostly townspeople, not professionals) put together a performance, which presented myths, folklore, and contemporary aspects of winemaking. Other highlights included original live performances by Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Like any other national festival, Fêtes des Vignerons de Vevey provides music, food and dancing for approximately two weeks (the duration of the festival). The festival closes with a crowning of the region’s best vintners.

I had never heard of this festival before. I was curious to find out whether or not cities in the States hold versions of this festival. After doing some research, I learned that the small town of Vevay (population 1735) in Switzerland County, Indiana along the Ohio River celebrates a version of Fêtes des Vignerons de Vevey. Vevay holds the Swiss Wine Festival every year usually on the last weekend of August. Typical activities include amusement rides, pageants, car shows, cheerleading competitions, musical performances, famous grape stomping, and a showcase of the town’s Beer and Wine Gardens. People from all over Switzerland County partake in this celebration. This would be an example of how American culture and customs have been incorporated into the festival. From the article on Wikipedia, it was difficult to gauge how touristy this event is. However, Gino had mentioned that the celebration in Switzerland pays homage to wine and cheese producers. Evidently, the festival in Indiana does not focus as much on this aspect of the original festival, but still provides participants with an enjoyable Swiss experience.

Annotation: Hall, Christopher. “TRAVEL ADVISORY; Swiss Winemakers Prepare to Party.” New York Times 27 Dec. 1998. 24 Apr. 2008 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE0D8123CF934A15751C1A96E958260