Tropicalismo

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tropicalismo (also: Tropicália ) describes a cultural-political movement in Brazil . Mostly known as a new musical trend, Tropicalismo originally comprised art forms in the sense of a mixture of different styles.

history

In 1967 Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso presented a new Brazilian style of music that was inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry as well as the smooth sound of bossa nova . Together with the rock musicians Os Mutantes and Tom Zé , they brought out the Tropicalia ou Panis et circensis (Tropicalia or bread and games) collection, which was characterized by a mixture of traditional Brazilian rhythms with the sounds of electric guitar. In their texts, they made fun of the Brazilian consumer society and other aspects of contemporary culture in a humorous way.

The Brazilian military government distrusted the “Tropicalistas” and a song called Velosos, É Proibido Proíbír (It is forbidden to prohibit) from 1968, which was based on a slogan from the Paris student protests, was considered provocative and political by the officials Perceived threat. In December of that year, Veloso and Gil were imprisoned for several months and then expelled from the country. The artists remained in exile for four years and brought their new compositions with veiled texts from London to Brazil, where they were recorded and distributed by other musicians. Other members of the movement got off less lightly. Some were tortured, and the lyric poet Torquato Neto died of suicide . Gil and Veloso returned to Brazil in 1974. Her style of music gained worldwide attention, later also influencing North American artists such as David Byrne and Paul Simon .

background

The Tropicalismo movement emerged in the early 1960s as a reaction to the military coup in Brazil and the repressive politics that followed. A political movement, which was characterized by criticism of the consumer mentality and the influence of the mass media as well as concerns about the curtailment of political rights, combined with the search for a new musical expression beyond the popular pop clichés and images of Brazil. This is how the tropicalism movement came about. (A comparable process in the film is the so-called Cinema Novo )

“Tropicalismo was never a specific style, like bossa nova, but a way of life, a cultural attitude, a concept. We just wanted to highlight some aspects of traditional Brazilian music, rural and urban folklore, and at the same time keep the door open for influences from America and Europe - mix all these things and develop new music from them. "

- Gilberto Gil

The name itself comes from the exhibition by the artist Hélio Oiticica held in April 1967 at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio under the title Tropicália . A new approach in the visual arts is called Re-Tropicalismo .

As a musical style, Tropicalismo is characterized by a mixture of rock , bossa nova and influences from Brazilian and Portuguese folk music. Due to the influence of electronic pop music, Neo-Tropicalismo emerged in the late 1990s.

Important artists of the first phase

Important artists of the second phase

  • Chico César
  • Zeca Baleiro
  • Zuco 103
  • Jards Macalé   
  • Sérgio Sampaio   
  • Luiz Melodia   
  • Jorge Mautner   
  • Walter Franco   
  • Novos Baianos   
  • Secos & Molhados

literature

  • Pedro Alexandre Sanches: Tropicalismo. decadência bonita do samba . Boitempo Editorial, São Paulo, SP 2000, ISBN 85-85934-54-9 .
  • Christopher Dunn: Brutality garden. Tropicália and the emergence of a Brazilian counterculture . University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC 2001, ISBN 0-8078-2651-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Culture Shock: Flashpoints: Music and Dance: Brazilian Tropicalia. In: pbs.org. Retrieved August 16, 2015 .
  2. ^ Tropicalismo. In: mundoeducacao.com. Mundo Educação, accessed August 16, 2015 .
  3. ^ House of World Cultures: Tropicália. In: hkw.de. HKW, July 2006, accessed on August 16, 2015 .