Cultura popular <\/em>translates into \u201cpopular culture,\u201d but in Maranhao it does not mean films, media and mass entertainment.\u00a0 In some academic discourses it retains that meaning (which is common in the United States and Europe), but it is a shorthand for \u201cculture of the people\u201d \u2014 folk, \u201ctraditional,\u201d or heritage culture as practiced in the state of Maranhao.<\/p>\n This conference seemed to define a variety of groups and practices as eligible:<\/p>\n Bumba-meu-boi<\/em><\/p>\n Tambor da Crioula<\/em><\/p>\n Caxeira<\/em><\/p>\n Also present were<\/p>\n Capoeira<\/em><\/p>\n Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices<\/p>\n The term cultura popular<\/em> has an operational and political sense because it designates certain practices and celebrations as worthy of preservation and support.\u00a0 On this trip we were able to accompany and visit events organized by the Maranhao Secretary of Education and Culture.<\/p>\n The event was one of many activities under the slogan: \u201cMais cultura e turismo<\/em>\u201d \u2014 \u201cMore culture and tourism.\u201d\u00a0 This slogan points to the state\u2019s priority of promoting popular culture in order to increase tourism.<\/p>\n Getting there<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There were various performances and presentations, but this post shows more of the caixeiras<\/em> because this was our first real contact with this art and were entranced by the spirituality and virtuosity of the women who practice it.<\/p>\n One important thing we learned at the meeting was that the many diverse practices of the interior are interrelated and that none exists in isolation from the others.\u00a0 Practitioners of the Bumba-meu-boi<\/em> may also be involved in Tambor da Crioula<\/em>, the Catholic Church and other religious practices of African origin.\u00a0 Evangelicals are also in evidence.\u00a0 This diversity means a great deal of overlapping and multiple allegiances, but also some competition.\u00a0 Some of the participants referred to \u201cmacumba,\u201d a general term for some of the more occult practices of the interior.\u00a0 Depending on the speaker and the context, macumba<\/em> might be a pejorative.\u00a0 This is part of a complicated local discussion about some controversial practices.<\/p>\n \u201cMacumba\u201d and other Afro-Brazilian spiritual practices have been discouraged and persecuted in the past, though they continue to survive as an important cultural phenomenon in the interior\u00a0 (as they do in the capital of Sao Luis and other Brazilian cities as well).\u00a0 They are not actively persecuted by the law now, but they are still controversial.\u00a0 The Catholic Church has a long history of coexistence and sincretism with these spiritual practices, but the growth evangelical denominations has created a new and difficult dialogue.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Maria Caixeira during the \u201csecular\u201d part of her group\u2019s presentation.\u00a0 The first section reflects the group\u2019s commitment to Espirito Santo<\/em> (Holy Spirit), their most important celebration.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Going back: The Pindare bus stop<\/p>\n A few miles from Santa Inez is the town of Pindare which is known for having the oldest sugar cane plant in the region.\u00a0 It is inactive now, but stands as a sign of the past economy of the Pindare and of the slaves who built the factory and worked in it.<\/p>\n This is a general semi-commercial district with repair shops, capoeira studio, and various small businesses.<\/p>\n From here we returned briefly to Sao Luis (after a 6-hour bus ride) and then left again for a celebration of the Day of the Dead in the city of Caixias and a few days with a specialist from a federal cultural agency who was visiting small town and rural practitioners of the Bumba-meu-boi and Tambor da Crioula.<\/p>\n For more on these trips, see later posts.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 The State of Maranhoa and Cultura Popular Cultura popular translates into \u201cpopular culture,\u201d but in Maranhao it does not mean films, media and mass entertainment.\u00a0 In some academic discourses it retains that meaning (which is common in the United States and Europe), but it is a shorthand for \u201cculture of the people\u201d \u2014 folk, … Continue reading A meeting of mestres — Santa Inez conference on cultura popular (November 2016)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-folk-culture-and-spiritual-practice-in-maranhao-brazil"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1250"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1285,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions\/1285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"IMG_2462\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_2462.jpg\")
<\/a>It is a long bus ride from Sao Luis to Santa Inez, through a countryside rich in cattle (and secondarily in cotton and some other hardy crops).\u00a0 These are sturdy cattle that form an important base for Maranhao economy.\u00a0 Incidentally, they also form the narrative base for the Bumba-meu-boi<\/em> celebration which traditionally has a story about a slave who steals his master\u2019s prize ox.\u00a0 In the celebration, the boi<\/em>, or ox, is represented by frame covered by an embroidered \u201cskin.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>A prevalent phenomenon that often surprises visitors is the large number of protestant\/evangelical churches.\u00a0 They are often small and simple, but very numerous.\u00a0 The churches seem to fill a need for a direct religious experience that traditional Catholicism may not offer.\u00a0 The evangelicals also promote a conservative social agenda such as opposition to reproductive rights for women They are also trenchant in their opposition to non-Christian spiritual practices of Afro-Brazilian origin and are part of a relatively new fault line in Brazilian religious life.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>The caixeiras <\/em>are groups of women who sing and play their own percussion.\u00a0 This caixeira <\/em>a shirt of an \u201cWomen\u2019s Democratic Cultural Association \u2026 \u201d with other words that signify their religious commitment.\u00a0 The caixeiras<\/em> have both a religious and a secular set of songs, but their primary commitment to to espirito santo<\/em> \u2014 the Holy Ghost \u2014 and the holidays celebrating the Pentecost.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>On a public square near the pubic library of Santa Inez the government of the state of Maranhao raised its balloon to announce the evening performance.\u00a0 The legend says \u201cGovernment for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>Maria Caixeira and group performing at the Santa Inez meeting<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>