Malandragem

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Malandragem ("crook", "lazy", also "rabble"; mɐlɐ̃ˈdraʒɐ̃ĩ ) describes the Brazilian stereotype of the Malandros and Malandras . The Malandro's behavior is a collection of tricks that are used to gain an advantage in a particular situation. These are often illegal benefits. It is characterized by ingenuity and sophistication. Execution requires dexterity, charisma, cunning and any skill that enables the manipulation of persons or institutions in order to get the best possible result in the simplest possible way. The opposite type to Malandro is the Caxias , the honest, virtuous, law-abiding philistine without particular individuality.

Characterization of Malandro

The Malandro rejects logical reasoning, work and honesty, assuming that these methods do not lead to a good result. Those who behave according to the Malandragem principle act according to a well-known Brazilian standing phrase that was immortalized in a cigarette advertisement in a slogan of the former Brazilian footballer Gérson de Oliveira Nunes and is therefore also called Lei do Gerson , Gerson's law. It reads: "gosto de levar vantagem em tudo" ("I like to take advantage of everything").

Along with the concept of Jeitinho (skill to achieve something), the Malandragem can be considered another typical, but not exclusively, Brazilian way of social navigation. In contrast to the Jeitinho , however, the Malandragem damages the righteousness of institutions and individuals, which is legally defined as fraud. However, successful malandragem means gaining an advantage without getting caught. In short, the Malandro deceives his victim (" otário ") without them noticing the deception.

Malandragem is widely seen in Brazil as a tool for individual justice. When faced with the violence of the oppressive institutions, the Malandro survives by manipulating people, tricking authorities and circumventing laws and thus ensuring his own well-being.

Like the Jeitinho , the Maladragem is an intellectual resource used by individuals with little social influence or the socially disadvantaged. However, this does not limit the use of the Malandragem by socially better-off individuals. With the help of the Malandragem one gains illegal advantages in gambling, in business and in social life in general. As Malandro for example, is one of the employer who pays its employees less than it should, as the player who manipulates the cards and so wins the round.

Yet despite this apparently self-centered, hypocritical , and devious nature, the person using the Maladragem is not necessarily selfish. He could possibly be a little lazy, but the Malandro is not careless with the people around him. He does not use the Malandragem with the intention of taking advantage of a person and thereby harming others, but rather to find a way out of an unjust situation, even if that means having to resort to illegal methods.

reception

A binding “theory of the Malandragem ” that ideologically supports and justifies this typical behavior does not seem to exist so far. On the other hand, Malandro's behavior, attitude and everyday life are presented and described above all in the arts. The specialist literature mostly emphasizes individual aspects and examines combinations such as "Malandragem and music" or "Malandragem and literature". The anthropologist Roberto da Matta (1979) examined the phenomenon from a social-anthropological point of view.

The samba piece "Lenço no Pescoço" (" Scarf around the neck"), written by Wilson Batista in 1933 and recorded by Sílvio Caldas, developed into a hymn of the Brazilian Malandragem through its precise description of Malandro's lifestyle . Since then, the type has often been sung about by popular samba musicians in particular. One should mention Bezerra da Silva , who with albums like “Malandro Rife” (1985), “Alô Malandragem, Maloca o Flagrante” (1986), “Malandro é Malandro e Mané é Mané” (1999) or his three tenor parody with three other samba singers ( "Bezerra, Moreira e Dicró - Os 3 Malandros In Concert" , 1995) as the most famous figure of the Malandragem . In 1978 Chico Buarque wrote the musical Ópera do Malandro , based on the Threepenny Opera , which was made into a film in 1986.

In literature, the figure of Leonardo in the novel Memórias de um sargento de milícias (1854) by Manuel Antônio de Almeida is regarded as an early example of Brazilian literature . The antihero Macunaíma (1928) by Mário de Andrade is another typical example.

A Malandro can often be recognized by his style of clothing, his subjectivity can also be found in his diction . He uses Americanisms in his slang (gíria do malandragem) , features of clothing were often straw hat and in the 1940s the zoot style adopted from America . With these accessories, Malandro appears as a stage figure in the Brazilian theater. In animated films, the general recognizability of the type is often assumed, e.g. B. Walt Disney in the figure of the parrot Zé Carioca ( Three Caballeros in Samba Fever , 1943) or in the figure of the duck Gustav Gans ; Hanna-Barbera showed him in the figure of the tomcat Top Cat (1961).

literature

  • Roberto da Matta: Carnavais, malandros e heróis. Para uma sociologia do dilema brasileiro. Zahar, Rio de Janeiro 1979. (Also in English and French).
  • Giovanna Dealtry: No Fio da Navalha. Malandragem no Literatura e no Samba. Casa da Palavra, Rio do Janeiro 2009, ISBN 978-85-7734-122-1 (Portuguese).
  • Maria Eneida Matos da Rosa: O malandro brasileiro. Do fascínio ao rancor. Publit Soluções Editoriais, Rio de Janeiro 2009, ISBN 978-85-7773-183-1 (Portuguese).
  • Chapter: Malandragem and jeitinho: challenges to the established order. In: Stephanie Dennison, Lisa Shaw: Popular Cinema in Brazil: 1930–2001. Manchester University Press, Manchester / New York 2004, ISBN 0-7190-6499-6 , pp. 21f. ( limited preview in Google Book Search, English).
  • Ruben George Olives: A malandragem na musica popular brasileira. In: Latin American Music Review. Austin, Texas, Vol. 5 (1984), No. 1, pp. 66-96 (Portuguese). Reprint: ders .: Violência e cultura no Brasil. Centro Edelstein de Pesquisa Social, Rio de Janeiro 2010, ISBN 978-85-7982-006-9 , pp. 21-63 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dicionário de Português-Alemão. 3. Edition. Porto Editora, Porto 2012, ISBN 978-972-0-01718-5 , p. 689.
  2. ↑ Text and music on letras.mus.br . Retrieved January 8, 2016 (Portuguese).
  3. ↑ Antonio Candido : Dialética since Malandragem caracterização the Memórias de um sargento de Milícias. In: Revista do Instituto de estudos brasileiros. USP, São Paulo, No. 8, 1970, pp. 67-89 (therein Chapter 2: Romance malandro) ( Online , Portuguese).
  4. ↑ José Novaes: To episódio de produção de subjetividade no brasil de 1930: malandragem e estado novo. In: Psicologia em Estudo , Vol. 6, 2001, No. 1, pp. 39-44. ISSN  1413-7372 (Portuguese).
  5. ↑ Edmylson Perdigão : Linguajar since Malandragem. [sn], Rio de Janeiro 1940.