Fetishes and Monuments: Afro-Brazilian Art and Culture in the 20th Century (Remapping Cultural History)

226 Pages·2007·1.7 MB·English

by  Roger Sansi

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Fetishes and
Monuments
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Remapping Cultural History
General Editor: Jo Labanyi, University of Southampton
Published in association with the Institute of Germanic & Romance
Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
The theoretical paradigms dominant in much of cultural history
published in English tend to be derived from northern European or
North American models. This series will propose alternative mappings
by focusing partly or wholly on those parts of the world that speak, or
have spoken, French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese. Both monographs
and collective volumes will be published. Preference will be given to
volumes that cross national boundaries, that explore areas of culture that
have previously received little attention, or that make a significant
contribution to rethinking the ways in which cultural history is theorised
and narrated.
Volume 1
Cultural Encounters: European Travel Writing in the 1930s
Edited by Charles Burdett and Derek Duncan
Volume 2
Images of Power: Iconography, Culture and the State in Latin America
Edited by Jens Andermann and William Rowe
Volume 3
The Art of the Project: Projects and Experiments in
Modern French Culture
Edited by Johnnie Gratton and Michael Sheringham
Volume 4
Locating Memory: Photographic Acts
Edited by Annette Kuhn and Kirsten McAllister
Volume 5
Intersecting Identities: Strategies of Visualisation in Nineteenth- and
Twentieth-Century Mexican Culture
Erica Segre
Volume 6
Fetishes and Monuments: Afro-Brazilian Art and Culture in the
Twentieth Century
Roger Sansi
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Fetishes and
Monuments
Afro-Brazilian Art and Culture in
the Twentieth Century
Roger Sansi
Berghahn Books
New York • Oxford
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First published in 2007 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
©2007 Roger Sansi
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper.
ISBN: 978-1-84545-363-3 hardback
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction
Culture and Objectification in the Black Rome 1
1 ‘Making the Saint’: Spirits, Shrines and
Syncretism in Candomblé 00
2 From Sorcery to Civilisation: The Objectification of
Afro-Brazilian Culture 00
3 From Informants to Scholars: Appropriating
Afro-Brazilian Culture 00
4 From Weapons of Crime to Jewels of the Crown: Candomblé
in Museums 00
5 From the Shanties to the Mansions: Candomblé
as National Heritage 00
6 Modern Art and Afro-Brazilian Culture in Bahia 00
7 Authenticity and Commodification in Afro-Brazilian Art 00
8 Candomblé as Public Art: The Orixás of Tororó 00
9 Re-appropriations of Afro-Brazilian Culture 00
Bibliography 00
Index 00
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List of Illustrations
1.1. The Caboclo 00
1.2. Sara the Gipsy 00
1.3. Pomba-Giras, Feira de São Joaquim 00
1.4. Images, Feira de São Joaquim 00
1.5. Image of the Caboclo in Helena’s House 00
2.1. Iemanjá in Bahia, Pierre Verger, 1950s 00
3.1. Mãe Senhora, Pierre Verger, 1950s 00
4.1. Panel of the Orixás, Carybé, Museu Afro-Brasileiro 00
6.1. Exú, Mario Cravo Jr., Central Post Office Building,
Pituba, Bahia 00
6.2. Rubem Valentim, Oxalá Temple, Bahia Museum
of Modern Art 00
6.3. Mario Cravo Jr. and Agnaldo dos Santos, 1950s 00
6.4. Xangô, by Agnaldo dos Santos 00
7.1. Mestre Didi, Rio Vermelho, Bahia 00
7.2. Nanã Buruku, by Gil Abelha 00
8.1. The Orixás of Tororó 00
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Acknowledgements
This book is the result of ten years of research. I have many people and
institutions to thank, in different parts of the world. The Agencia Española
de Cooperación Internacional, the Fundació ‘La Caixa’, the Tinker
Foundation, the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC), and the Arts
and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) have financed it in different
periods. I am grateful to my professors in Chicago, I still can not believe I
have had the honour to work with them: Manuela Carneiro Da Cunha,
James Fernandez, Marshall Sahlins, John Kelly, Andrew Apter, Kesha
Fikes. I had the best friends in Bahia: Luis Nicolau, Stéphane Malysse,
Eloisa Brantes, Maria Eugenia Santos, Eliane Salles, Luciana Duccini. And
in Cachoeira, where I learnt so much, specially with Fory and Magdalena,
and her family and neighbours Dona Dete, and Dona Lita. In London, I am
so grateful to my colleagues, David Treece, Nancy Naro and Daniel Stone.
But in all these places, three people were always with me: my mother, my
grandmother, and my woman, Silvia. This book is dedicated to them.
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