To emphasize a crucial aspect of Brazilian society to the class, this research project will emphasize the importance of the Festa Junina, or June Festival in Brazil. On the surface, this is just another aspect of culture well known for its festivities. However, just like carnival, this festival carries heavy social themes of class and race which infiltrate all interactions during the celebration. This research project aims to explore how the Festa Junina perpetuates racist and classist sentiments in a Brazilian urban environment. To better convey these issues to an American audience,
To understand the Festa Junina, an acknowledgement must be given to the traditions within the festival that will be explored. Using sources that trace the history of practices such as bonfires and São João to their European origin, a foundation can be created for understanding Brazilian versions of this Midsummer celebration. Thus, other primary sources can provide clarity to the specific practices unique to Brazil. From there, various secondary sources will serve as critiques of the aforementioned traditions, analyzing the executions of the festival in Brazilian metropolitan areas. Although the tradition is centered around a celebration of rural life, these scholarly sources expose the festival as an exclusionary practice that prevents those being celebrated from participating, simultaneously demeaning non-white Brazilians in the process. This research is to discover more of how a seemingly lighthearted event carries dangerous implications for Brazilian society itself.
The act of maintaining a major tradition for fair-skinned and middle class Brazilians results in the intersection of identity in the nation. A major focus of this course has been to outline the lived experiences of Brazilians, and what aspects of the culture allow individuals to identify with the nationality. Understanding how this tradition, which has existed since the colonial area, has emphasized the class and racial dynamics in Brazil is crucial to analyzing how the society is structured. Knowing the development and modern practices of the festival can provide insight into knowing the true face of Brazilian society is like.
This research project integrates various interpretations of the Festa Junina ino a single presentation, providing an overview of how this festival sustains a culture of class and racial exclusion in a nation which prides itself on equality. Designed for an American audience, this project will illuminate issues within an important Brazilian festival, breaking down preconceived notions that Brazilian culture is simply a tourist paradise for innocent excitement. This is a culture with complex and deep rooted issues, problems which will be understood through the context of the Festa Junina.
Primary Sources:
- Rangel, Lúcia Helena Vitalli. Festas juninas, festas de São João: origens, tradições e história. São Paulo, SP: Publishing Solutions, 2008.
- Anderson, Michael Alan. “Fire, Foliage and Fury: Vestiges of Midsummer Ritual in Motets for John the Baptist.” Early Music History, 2011. 1-54.
- Bhoil, Shelly. 2017. Festa junina – the winter fest of brazil. Indian Express, Jun 28, 2017.
Scholarly/Secondary Sources:
- Chisholm, Jennifer. “Festa junina and the Changing Meanings of Brazilian Rural Festivals in Urban Spaces.” Alter/nativas, no. 4 (2015).
- Packman, Jeff. 2012. “The Carnavalização of São João: Forrós, Sambas and Festive Interventions during Bahia, Brazil’s festas juninas.” Ethnomusicology Forum 21, no. 3: 327-353.
- Campos, Judas Tadeu de. 2007. Festas juninas nas escolas: Lições de preconceitos. Educação & Sociedade 589-606
- Roth-Gordon, Jennifer. “Fears of Racial Contact: Crime, Violence, and the Struggle over Urban Space.” In Race and the Brazilian Body: Blackness, Whiteness, and Everyday Language in Rio De Janeiro, 95-127. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2017.
- Castro, Jânio Roque Barros. “The Promotion of Big Parties During the June Festivities in Private Arenas in Reconcavo Region: An Analytical Assessment.” GeoTextos, 2011.
I cannot wait to read the improvements that you are going to make to this article! I experienced a Festa Junina while in Brazil but had no idea the cultural implications and underlying tones. This topic will really provide important cultural information and cannot wait to read your updates.
In your description, you mentioned a little bit about how maintaining the tradition is important for fair skinned middle-class Brazilians, I was just wondering if you were going to focus on colorism at all, or if you thought it might be more appropriate to hone in on the intersection of race and class, rather than talk about colorism?
I tried to find some sources that directly talked about colorism and the festival, but there’s very little research about it. It’s something I’d love to learn more about in the future, but for now I unfortunately have to limit the discussion to just race and class interactions. I hope one of my sources is able to draw a connection to it.
Speaking of sources, I also found a thesis that might be helpful for you! If not, it’s just a really interesting read about how regular Brazilians define different variations in the black & mixed population.
http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03242014-085532/unrestricted/WhiteYvonneMarieMastersThesis.pdf
You’ve done so much research already! I am excited to see the actual improvements you make to the article! Andrew brought up a good point about colorism and I think you should really explore that more. By looking at the sources, this information seems to be credible.