CARNIVAL: THE RITE AND ITS TIME Maria Laura Viveiros de Castro Cavalcanti Anthropologist of the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). 50 51 razilian culture is home to treasures of rare creativity focus on one aspect of carnival, the escolas de samba, or and extraordinary beauty, among these its popular samba schools. First appearing in Rio at the end of the 1920s, Bcelebrations. In our country, the passing of every the samba schools disseminated throughout the country as year is punctuated by a wide and heterogeneous array of the 20th century progressed. Then, as now, they carried the commemorations, each of which, in its own way, dialogues reputation of Brazil’s carnival to the outside world. The festive with values that are at once sacred and profane, cosmopolitan parades deliver an annual flux of tourists to the city, which and local, commercial and sentimental. They are a mixture then serves as a port of entry to other parts of the country. of religious devotions and business, dance and music, At the same time, Brazilian-style carnival merrymaking has arts and crafts, traditions and mass culture. They involve extended to countries as diverse as Japan, Sweden and the rich and poor, whites, mulattos, caboclos (mestizos), afro- United States. A closer examination of the cultural and descendents blacks, different ethnic and social groups. anthropological dimensions of this internationally renowned While the celebrations certainly do not resolve conflicts and celebration is certainly in order. inequalities, they do express a collective face that may be I. Festive organization superimposed over these differences. An atmosphere at once Rio de Janeiro acted as the most important hub of colorful, lively, and out of the ordinary, enchants and unites diffusion for carnival revelry during most of the 19th and 20th participants and admirers. centuries. In this role, its most original creation was the samba Carnival is distinguished on the holiday calendar by the schools. Proposing new forms of urban socializing, the samba variety of its forms and its dynamism. The national carnival schools joined elements of previous and co-existing carnival scene is characterized by intense cultural exchange, including groups – ranchos (marching groups), blocos (blocs) and rivalry, mutual assistance and fertile inter-influencing, whose grandes sociedades (great societies). They soon became the motives may be a desire for mutual differentiation or a search stars of Rio’s carnival, providing a decisive reference point for for affinities, closer partnerships and adaptations. We will the construction of collective identities. The urban expansion 53 fanning out to the suburbs and outskirts was closely followed The sixties and seventies brought with them marked by the emergence of samba schools as a form of community transformations that led to the commercialization and association which used carnival as a means to foster socializing spectacular visual display that today is recognized as the and leisure activity in the surrounding area. At the same parade’s hegemonic standard. The construction of the time, the annual parade held in the center of the city brought Passarela do Samba (the samba runway popularly known as together diverse neighborhoods and mixed different social the sambadrome) in 1984 registered the apogee of the city’s classes, reinvigorating the atmosphere of carnival with this samba school explosion. Currently, the parade possesses new form of celebrating. Midway through the 20th century, six divisions, totaling about 75 samba schools in all. The the expansion of the middle and lower classes and their socio- premier division is represented by the Independent League of cultural interaction, along with the growing presence of the Samba Schools4, and is home to 14 samba schools that march jogo do bicho (animal game - a kind of popular lottery) in the through the sambadrome on Sunday and Monday nights. urban peripheral region as well as the center, were reflected in The sambadrome has seating for some 60,000 people, and carnival’s new organization. The carnival parades, agonistic each school of this group parades with a minimum of 2500 and ecstatic, placed the city face-to-face with itself, its tensions and a maximum of 5000 components. Therefore, calculating and problems, its different social actors. just those directly involved in the event, around 170,000 Within this equally agitated and animated context, the persons are gathered for this group’s performance. The rest of samba schools defined a remarkable artistic form, the result the groups, represented by the Association of Samba Schools of much borrowing and many original contributions. This of Rio de Janeiro, parade on the other nights of carnival, some joyous procession, accompanied by the powerful percussion in the sambadrome itself and others on Avenida Rio Branco. rhythms of the bateria (percussion section), presents a new The championship annually promotes the winning enredo (theme) each year, expressed through the fantasias schools of each group to the division immediately above (costumes), alegorias (decorated floats) and its samba- and demotes losing schools to the division immediately enredo (samba theme-song). The parade soon became below. And despite the apparently unbeatable nucleus of the part of the official carnival programming1. By the 1950s, so-called “Great Schools”, the annals of carnival are replete the artistic and ritual form of the procession was complete. with “barrier-breaking” incidents capable of surprising, The requirements for judging, motive of many debates and demonstrating the real possibility of a crossover from one consensual reaffirmations, had also been decided early on2. division to another. By this means, the festive competition This engendered a form of competition suitable for the established a mechanism capable of aggregating new values incorporation of new schools (who appeared in different that arose and segregating old ones already in the processes of neighborhoods of the city and surrounding areas) and the retraction or decadance. The dynamic and inclusive character elimination of older ones (which either joined together of this structure certainly answers for an important part of its forming new ones or simply disappeared)3. popular success. 1 Tupi (1985) clarifies some dates from the early phase of structuring of the samba schools: 1931 - date of the first contest, according to oral tradition; 1932 - date of the first parade advertised in local newspapers; 1935 - date of the first contest promoted by the mayor’s office, including the schools officially subsidized by the carnival. 2 There are currently 11 categories that are judged: enredo (theme), samba-enredo (samba theme song), bateria (percussion section), comissão de frente (front commission), mestre-sala (master of ceremonies) and porta-bandeira (flag-bearer), conjunto (group), alegorias e adereços (decorated floats and props), evolução (dancing, movement of the parade) and harmonia (harmony, singing). 3 The founding dates of the schools participating in the special group at carnival 2000, commemorating 500 years since the discovery of Brazil, reveal the dynamism of this secular process: Porto da Pedra (Niterói), 1978; Grande Rio (Duque de Caxias), 1988; Vila Isabel (Vila Isabel), 1946; Caprichosos de Pilares (Pilares), 1949; Tradição (Madureira), 1984; Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (Bangu), 1955; Portela (Madureira), 1923; Unidos da Tijuca (Santo Cristo), 1931; Mangueira (Mangueira), 1928; Salgueiro (Tijuca), 1953; Imperatriz Leopoldinense (Santo Cristo) 1959; Ilha do Governador (Ilha do Governador), 1953; Beija Flor de Nilópolis (Nilópolis), 1955; Unidos de Viradouro (Niterói), 1946. Carnival 2003 featured the long-established Portela, with its vast 80 years of experience, representing the earliest days of the emergence of samba schools in the city. At the other extreme appeared the young Grande Rio, still green at 15. 4 For a detailed discussion of the Sambadrome, see Cavalcanti, 1994, pp. 28-31, for jogo do bicho (animal game lottery) in carnival see, particularly, pp.32- 41, and the article “O mecenato do jogo do bicho no carnaval carioca”, in Cavalcanti, 1999. 54 55 II. The Rite integrating the “visual” and the “samba”, uniting the festive Another reason for the success is the sophisticated artistic and spectacular dimensions of the parade. form and ritual of the parade. Its composition is based on In a successful performance, the distinction between a “theme” chosen each year and soon developed into an spectators and participants is substantially diminished. For “enredo”, the key element that weaves together the entire ritual those on parade as the live playing pieces that narrate the process. Transforming the enredo into the tactile and visual enredo, singing and dancing and wearing the costume of an language of costumes and floats and the rhythm and music ala also represent an opportunity to be seen and admired, of the samba theme-song rules the production of a parade5. another aspect of the fun. For the spectators on the receiving In each school, this process intensely mobilizes several end of the story, seeing and admiring are activities that neighborhoods and regions. The north, south, east and accompany the singing and dancing, enjoyed in the company west zones of the city develop multiple transit and exchange of neighbors, relatives and friends in the audience. Time and networks amongst themselves.