Last updated In Pernambuco, the first Afro-Brazilian folklore and rhythm emerged: congada and maracatu. In the photo, Maracatu Nação procession in Recife.
Afro-Brazilian cultural aspects
Afro-Brazilian culture is the combination of cultural manifestations in Brazil that have suffered some influence from African culture since colonial times until the present day. Most of Africa's culture reached Brazil through the transatlantic slave trade, where it was also influenced by European and indigenous cultures, which means that characteristics of African origin in Brazilian culture are generally mixed with other cultural references.
Although traditionally depreciated in the colonial era and in the 19th century, aspects of Brazilian culture of African origin underwent a process of revalorization from the 20th century onwards that still exists today.
African slaves in Brazil from several nations (Rugendas, c. 1830).
Overall, both in colonial times and in the 19th century, the cultural identity of European origin was the most valued in Brazil, while Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations were often neglected, discouraged and even prohibited. Afro-Brazilian religions and the martial art of capoeira were often suppressed by the authorities. On the other hand, some folkloric manifestations, such as congadas and maracatu, as well as musical expressions like lundu, were tolerated and even stimulated.[3]
From the mid-20th century onwards, Afro-Brazilian cultural expressions gradually began to be more accepted and admired by Brazilian elites as authentic national artistic expressions. However, not all cultural manifestations were accepted at the same time. Samba was one of the first expressions of Afro-Brazilian culture to be admired when it assumed a privileged position in popular music at the beginning of the 20th century.[3]
Subsequently, the government of the Estado Novo dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas implemented policies to stimulate nationalism where Afro-Brazilian culture could be officially accepted. It was during this period that samba school parades gained government approval through the General Union of Samba Schools of Brazil, founded in 1934.[3][4]
The same happened to other cultural expressions. Capoeira, which was considered an activity of criminals and outlaws, was presented in 1953 by Mestre Bimba to president Vargas, who called it "the only truly national sport".[3][5]
From the 1950s onwards, persecution of Afro-Brazilian religions decreased and umbanda was accepted by part of the Rio de Janeiro middle class. In the following decade, Afro-Brazilian religions began to be celebrated by the white intellectual elite.[3]
Abolition Museum - Reference Center of Afro-Brazilian Culture, in Recife.
The interest in Afro-Brazilian culture is expressed by the many studies in the fields of sociology, anthropology, ethnology, music and linguistics, among others, focused on the expression and historical evolution of Afro-Brazilian culture.[7]
Many Brazilian scholars, such as the lawyer Edison Carneiro, the coroner Nina Rodrigues, the writer Jorge Amado, the poet and writer from Minas Gerais Antonio Olinto, the writer and journalist João Ubaldo, the anthropologist and museologist Raul Lody, as well as foreigners like the French sociologist Roger Bastide, the photographer Pierre Verger, the American ethnologist researcher Ruth Landes, and the Argentine painter Carybé, dedicated themselves to collecting data on Afro-Brazilian culture, which had not yet been studied in detail.[8]
Overall, blacks brought from Africa as slaves were immediately baptized and forced to follow Catholicism. However, conversion was only superficial and religions of African origin managed to remain through secret practice or syncretism with Catholicism. Some Afro-Brazilian religions still maintain most of their African traditions, such as the traditional candomblé and xangô in the northeast region; others were formed through religious syncretism, such as batuque, tambor de mina, xambá and umbanda.[18][19]
Regardless, Afro-Brazilian religions show influences from Catholicism and indigenousencantaria and pajelança. Syncretism also manifests itself in the tradition of baptism of children and marriage in the Catholic Church, even when the members openly follow an Afro-Brazilian religion.[20]
While Catholicism denies the existence of orishas, Pentecostal churches believe in their existence, but as demons.[29] According to the IBGE, 0.3% of Brazilians say they follow religions of African origin, although a larger number of people pursue these religions privately.[30]
Weaver of the Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá candomblé terreiro in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
The African Alaká, known in Brazil as pano-da-costa, is produced by weavers of the Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá candomblé terreiro in Salvador, in the space called Casa do Alaká.[45] Mestre Didi, Alapini (high priest) of the Egungun cult and Açobá (supreme priest) of the cult of Babalú-Ayé and Orishas of the earth, is also a sculptor and his work is entirely focused on Yoruba mythology and art.[33]
In painting, many artists and designers have dedicated themselves to showing the beauty of candomblé, umbanda and batuque on their canvases. One of them is the Argentine sculptor and painter Carybé, who dedicated much of his life in Brazil sculpting and painting the Orishas and festivals down to the finest detail. His sculptures can be seen in the Afro-Brazilian Museum and part of his work has been published in books.[46]
In photography, the Frenchman Pierre Fatumbi Verger, who visited Bahia in 1946 and remained until the last day of his life, portrayed in black and white the Brazilian people and all the nuances of candomblé. Besides photographing, he became part of the religion, both in Brazil and in Africa, where he was initiated as a babalawo, as well as starting the Pierre Verger Foundation in Salvador, where his entire photographic collection is located.[47][48]
Cuisine
Brazilian feijoada, considered the national dish of Brazil, is frequently mentioned as a creation of the slaves, since it may have been invented in the senzalas. Nowadays, however, Brazilian feijoada is considered a tropical adaptation of the Portuguese feijoada that was not usually served to slaves. Despite this, regional Brazilian cuisine was greatly influenced by African cooking, mixed with European and indigenous culinary elements.[49]
The cuisine of Bahia is the one that most demonstrates the African influence in its typical dishes such as acarajé, caruru, vatapá and moqueca. These dishes are prepared with palm oil, extracted from an African palm tree brought to Brazil in colonial times. In Bahia, there are two ways to prepare these recipes. In a simpler way, the foods do not contain much seasoning and are made in the candomblé terreiros to be offered to the orishas. In the other way, applied outside the terreiros, the foods are prepared with a lot of seasoning and are more flavorful, being sold by the baianas do acarajé and tasted in restaurants and homes.[50]
The music created by Afro-Brazilians is a combination of influences from across sub-Saharan Africa with elements of Portuguese and, to a lesser extent, indigenous music, which has produced a wide variety of styles. Brazilian popular music is strongly influenced by African rhythms; the most popular genres are samba, marabaixo, maracatu, ijexá, coco, jongo, carimbó, lambada, maxixe, maculelê.[2][51][52][53][54]
Just as happened in all the regions of America where African slaves were present, the music made by Afro-descendants was initially neglected and marginalized, until it gained notoriety in the early 20th century and became the most popular today.[55]
Ogun or Ogoun is a Yoruba spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Ọbàtálá, who reigned twice, before and after Oduduwa, but was ousted by Obamakin and sent on an exile – an event that serves as the core of the Ọlọ́jọ́ Festival. Ògún is a warrior and a powerful spirit of metal work, as well as of rum and rum-making. He is also known as the "god of iron" and is present in Yoruba religion, Santería, Haitian Vodou, West African Vodun, and the folk religion of the Gbe people.
Shango is an Orisha in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third Alaafin of the Oyo Kingdom prior to his posthumous deification. Shango has numerous manifestations, including Airá, Agodo, Afonja, Lubé, and Obomin. He is known for his powerful double axe (Oṣè). He is considered to be one of the most powerful rulers that Yorubaland has ever produced.
Ọya is an Orisha of winds, lightning, and violent storms. As a river deity she is also regarded as a deity of children, able to provide children to her devotees or those who come to her banks at the Niger river.
Umbanda is a religion that emerged in Brazil in the 1920s. Deriving largely from Spiritism, it also combines elements from Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of Umbanda, which is organized around autonomous places of worship termed centros or terreiros, the followers of which are called Umbandistas.
Candomblé is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially those of the Yoruba, Bantu, and Gbe, coupled with influences from Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organized around autonomous terreiros (houses).
The predominant religion in Brazil is Christianity, with Catholicism being its largest denomination.
Àkàrà (Yoruba) (English: bean cake; Hausa: kosai; Portuguese: acarajé is a type of fritter made from cowpeas or beans by the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Togo and Benin. It is found throughout West African, Caribbean, and Brazilian cuisines. The dish is traditionally encountered in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia, especially in the city of Salvador. Acarajé serves as both a religious offering to the gods in the Candomblé religion and as street food. The dish was brought by enslaved Nigerian citizens from West Africa, and can still be found in various forms in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Mali, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone.
Pedra do Sal is a historic and religious site in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Saúde. The site was originally a quilombo village. An association group still lives there, formally known as the Community Descendents of the Quilombos of Pedra do Sal. The site was recognised in 1984 by INEPAC, the Institute for State Cultural Heritage.
Yeda Pessoa de Castro is a Brazilian ethnolinguist. With a PhD in African Languages at the National University of Zaire, she is a Technical Consultant in African Languages for the Museu da Língua Portuguesa at the Estação da Luz in São Paulo, a Member of the Academia de Letras da Bahia and of the ANPOLL's GT de Literatura Oral e Popular. Also is a Permanent Member of the Brazilian Scientific Committee of the Project "Slave Route" by UNESCO.
Yemọja is the major water spirit from the Yoruba religion. She is the mother of all Orishas. She is also the mother of humanity. She is an orisha, in this case patron spirit of rivers, particularly the Ogun River in Nigeria, and oceans in Cuban and Brazilian orisa religions. She is often syncretized with either Our Lady of Regla in the Afro-Cuban diaspora or various other Virgin Mary figures of the Catholic Church, a practice that emerged during the era of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Yemọja is said to be motherly and strongly protective, and to care deeply for all her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent her wealth. She does not easily lose her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent, as the flood waters of turbulent rivers. Some of the priests of Yemọja believe that she used her fresh water to help Ọbàtálá in the molding of human beings out of clay.
Cleusa da Conceição Nazaré de Oliveira, better known as Mãe Cleusa Millet or Mother Millet (1923–1998), was the hereditary spiritual leader (iyalorixá) of Brazil's most noted Candomblé temple, Terreiro do Gantois, located in Alto do Gantois in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Upon her death, she was accorded an official state day of mourning and was posthumously inducted into the Order of Merit of the State of Bahia.
Eugênia Anna Santos was a Brazilian Iyalorixá. She founded the candomblé Ilê Axé Opó Afonjá in Salvador, now considered a National Historic Landmark, and in Rio de Janeiro.
Tia Ciata, born Hilária Batista de Almeida (1854–1924) was a Brazilian mãe-de-santo of Candomblé, and an influential figure in the development of samba. She was born in Santo Amaro, Bahia, and initiated in Candomblé in Salvador by Bangboshe Obitikô. She was a devotee of deity Oshun and became the iyakekerê, or second most important leader, in the terreiro of João Alabá in Rio de Janeiro. "Ciata", the name by which she is now known, is a variant on the Arabic name Aycha; it was a common feminine name among the Muslim community from Portuguese Guinea that formerly resided in Rio de Janeiro.
Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá Axé Iyá Nassô Oká is a historic Candomblé temple in the city of Salvador, Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. It is also known as the Casa Branca do Engenho Velho, or simply the Casa Branca. Located on a hill above Vasco da Gama, a busy avenue in the working-class neighborhood of Engenho Velho, the terreiro belongs to the Ketu branch of Candomblé, which is heavily influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of the Yoruba people. The earliest documents proving the temple's existence are from the late nineteenth century, but it was certainly founded much earlier, probably c. 1830. Since the 1940s, the religious community has been registered as a public entity under the name Sociedade Beneficente e Recreativa São Jorge do Engenho Velho.
Acaçá is a ritual food central to ceremonies of Afro-Brazilian religions, specifically to Candomblé rituals. It is found in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, and Rio de Janeiro. Pai Cido de Osun Eyin stated that "life [...] is sustained, and is renewed with the ritual offering of acaçá." It has at least two variations: a similar dish made of black beans and a drink also used in Candomblé rituals.
Pajubá, or Bajubá, is a Brazilian cryptolect which inserts numerous words and expressions from West African languages into the Portuguese language. It is spoken by practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions, such as Candomblé and Umbanda, and by the Brazilian LGBT community. Its source languages include Umbundu, Kimbundo, Kikongo, Egbá, Ewe, Fon and Yoruba. It also includes words borrowed from Spanish, French, and English, as well as words of Portuguese origin with altered meanings.
Brazil had a profound racial miscegenation, Brazilians have the most diverse physical characteristics. Research indicates that 44% of Brazilians have two religions. Official data from the Brazilian census indicate that 1,011,507 Brazilians have two religions or follow a syncretic religion. Because to miscegenation it is common for a person to have a father of one race and religion and a mother of another race and another religion, naturally that person can adopt the two beliefs or follow a religion that mixes the two beliefs.
Rational Culture is a Brazilian UFO religion derived from Umbanda, founded in the mid-1930s in the city of Rio de Janeiro by the medium Manuel Jacinto Coelho.
Candomblé formed in the early part of the nineteenth century. Although African religions had been present in Brazil since the early 16th century, Johnson noted that Candomblé, as "an organized, structured liturgy and community of practice called Candomblé" only arose later.
Jarê is a religious practice of African origin found exclusively in the Chapada Diamantina region, in the central region of the Brazilian state of Bahia, especially among the descendants of Africans from the Lençóis region. It is characterized as a less orthodox branch of Candomblé, forming an amalgam resulting from a process of fusion involving elements of the Bantu and Nagô nations, to which aspects of Candomblé are added.
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