Summary: Sambistas e Sociedade: Um ensaio etnomusicológico, by Samuel Araújo, rearticulates criticisms of the concept of music and uses samba to understand various dimensions of Brazilian society. Araújo proposes a new dialog about music and deepens the concept of acoustic work, receiving praise for his methodological rigor and multidisciplinary approach.

Keywords: Ethnomusicology, samba, and Brazilian society.

Sambistas e Sociedade: Um ensaio etnomusicológico is the title of the work that rearticulates critical designations of the concept of music. The book, authored by Samuel Araújo, explores the theme of samba, broadening it as a tool to understand Brazilian society. It analyses the social, ideological, aesthetic, racial, and economic dimensions of samba, particularly within the context of Rio de Janeiro. The author employs a Western ethnomusicological approach, which presents different perspectives on representations in historical contexts of production, spaces, and defined times. The arguments are presented in a logical sequence with the aim of highlighting the ontological musical experience of samba and its constitutive elements.

Samuel Araújo is a full professor of Ethnomusicology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a renowned intellectual in the field of the Arts, with numerous publications in Brazil and abroad. His contributions reflect on the thematic context of music, politics, theory, and method in ethnomusicology, associated with experiences in participatory research. The reviewed text was part of the author’s doctoral thesis, which was published as a book in 2021 by the UFRJ press in partnership with the Rio de Janeiro State Research Support Foundation (FAPERJ). It is organized into five chapters. The preface, written by Professor and Anthropologist Rafael José de Menezes Bastos, affiliated with the University of Santa Catarina, highlights the methodological rigor and the rich theoretical foundation of the work, with references to Marx, Bourdieu, and Bergson, as well as a substantial ethnomusicological bibliography, which enhances the impact of Araújo’s dialogue on redefining the music category and the meticulous elaboration of the concept of acoustic labor.

The first chapter sets the stage for the reader by introducing the central issues of the research and presenting the bases from the viewpoint of ethnomusicology. It also positions the Samba genre as a unique acoustic event, capable of being observed through the inflection of practices that developed in a historical dynamic, becoming a mediating instance of the cultural production of Fluminense society. The aim is to corroborate the importance of samba and its practices, which are essentially collective activities and have a significant impact on various aspects of social life. It is therefore important to consider them in academic studies.

The literature review is presented in a problematized form, which allows us to perceive the breadth of themes in their intersectionalities. With regard to Samba, it draws attention to the challenges associated with the paucity of critical academic literature in Brazil. This was a relatively late phenomenon, emerging only in the 1970s, and even then, influenced by journalism, contextualized reports, and biographies. However, it succeeds in locating the works that, through academic rigor, discuss Samba and incorporate reflections supporting the level of (re)conceptualizations seen as necessary. These works provide a multidisciplinary theoretical immersion into the fields of anthropology, communication, social history, musicology, political science, literary studies, and sociology, respectively.

Methodologically, the production employs a diverse range of approaches, including open interviews, published scores, documents related to samba and samba schools, interviews with composers, and commercial recordings and related topics. It can be said that the text has a well-defined conceptual framework that guides the reader through an enlightening immersion into the debates surrounding the articulation of new perspectives. However, due to its complexity, the text may require engagement from the reader and a certain familiarity with the specific academic analyses of the ethnomusicological field. This may limit its pedagogical reach for common social applications.

The second chapter offers a multifaceted view of samba, encompassing perspectives on its liturgy of dance, customs among musicians and dancers, and the acoustic influence of the various peoples who have contributed to its evolution. Perhaps most importantly, it presents samba as an inherently collective event, historically tied to sacred practices, which situates it as a vital contributor to the city’s cultural tapestry. A relationship presented as conflictive, which presented its members, mostly black, racialized, or economically disadvantaged, with a certain degree of moral judgment and police repression.

The text presents an interpretative arc on the pivotal events of the transposition of samba’s acoustic work, which shifted it from an unfavorable social condition to a culturally assimilated event by economically privileged classes. This is exemplified by the song “Pelo Telefone” and the “Carmen Miranda effect,” both of which were able to circumvent social barriers and enable samba’s access to a broader societal taste, both through cultural approach and market perspective..

“Pelo telefone” – Donga | Image: Canal ValeriaDniz

In the third chapter, we find a description of samba and its interaction with the tradition of carnival associations. Although the discussed data are linked to the temporal cut of the original text, they were arranged from the perspective of the social structure that moves ‘the samba event’. Details, presented in subsections, cover debates regarding affiliations, the arrangement of their carnival formalities, competition as an event involving the samba spectacle, and its internal context of self-control. The fourth chapter offers insights into the construction of internal and external borders of samba in Rio de Janeiro.

It explores the intertwined concepts of tempo, timbre, intensity, synchronism, and affiliation, which collectively expose the underlying expectations of the drum section. This representation of the drum section in its community and association reveals a complex tapestry of expectations and nuances. The study presents views that allow the “outsider” reader to gain a better understanding of the configuration between the “pieces” (small parts and heavy leathers), which are responsible for its sound pattern, the cadence, or even the paths that lead an individual to join its ranks. These paths may include training given in the junior school or an invitation from more experienced members for a particular prominent rhythmist. With regard to other perceptions, the text offers a deeper interpretation of the sound work (polyphonic) and its production of synchronisms, suggesting a parallel equivalent to the tensions of social life in Brazil. This is traced back to the diasporic process observed in Sub-Saharan practices, which reproduce the general context of its dynamics.

In the final chapter, the focus shifts to the composers, who have played a pivotal role in this work. Their insights have helped us to better understand samba, its evolution, and the intersections between traditional and contemporary values, as well as its patterns and historical rituals. It exemplifies the formats present in the process of forming a samba in its main subdivisions: samba de quadra, samba enredos, partido alto, as well as other derivatives that reveal a self-portrait of its own evolutionary process, uniting, albeit differently, the old and new composers. This section presents a sequence of interviews with some of the most prominent figures in the samba composition process, as well as lyrics and scores cited in the interviews. It offers a sensitive and nuanced insight into the ethnomusicological phenomenon that shapes the creation of a samba, providing a deeper understanding for those who may be unfamiliar with the subject.

The reviewed work aligns with the expectations proposed in its research context. Its problematization offers a unique perspective on the ‘world of samba’, prompting reflection on the theme from a multitude of perspectives. This, in turn, contributes to the formation of researchers and works in development in ethnomusicology, musicology, music history, history, and music and cultural history.

Summary of Samba, Sambista e Sociedade: um ensaio etnomusicológico

• Introdução
• 1. Perspectivas críticas sobre o samba de seus registros iniciais a 1990
• 2. Samba como formação acústica
• 3. Escola de samba
• 4. Bateria: expectativas e questões
• 5. Compositores
• 6. Comentários finais

Reviewer

Bruno Brandão Augusto is a PhD candidate in History at the Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), and a professor of undergraduate and postgraduate Pedagogy at the Universidade de Vassouras (Univassouras). He has published, among other works, O conjunto musical oito batutas em 1929: trajetórias negras em contexto de racialização da sociedade brasileira. ID LATTES: http://lattes.cnpq.br/5520825115165741; ID ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8761-525X: E-mail: brunobaugusto@yahoo.com.br.

To cite this review

ARAÚJO, Samuel. Samba, Sambistas e Sociedade: Um ensaio etnomusicológico. Rio de Janeiro: Editora da UFRJ, 2021. 280p. Review of: AUGUSTO, Bruno Brandão. No ritmo dos bambas. Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n.17, maio/jun., 2024. Disponível em <https://www.criticahistoriografica.com.br/no-ritmo-dos-bambas-resenha-de-bruno-brandao-augusto-unisinos-sobre-a-obra-samba-sambistas-e-sociedade-um-ensaio-etnomusicologico-de-samuel-araujo/>.

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Crítica Historiográfica. Natal, v.4, n. 17, May/June, 2024 | ISSN 2764-2666.