Ring of Liberation: Deceptive Discourse in Brazilian Capoeira

by J. Lowell Lewis

• ISBN13: 9780226476834
• ISBN10: 0226476839
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-11-15
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

Based on eighteen months of intensive participant-observation,Ring of Liberationoffers both an in-depth description of capoeiraa complex Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines feats of great strength and athleticism with music and poetryand a pioneering synthetic approach to the analysis of complex cultural performance. Capoeira originated in early slave culture and is practiced widely today by urban Brazilians and others. At once game, sport, mock combat, and ritualized performance, it involves two players who dance and "battle" within a ring of musicians and singers. Stunning physical performances combine with music and poetry in a form as expressive in movement as it is in word. J. Lowell Lewis explores the convergence of form and content in capoeira. The many components and characteristics of this elaborate black art formfor example, competing genre frameworks and the necessary fusion of multiple modes of expressiondemand, Lewis feels, to be given "body" as well as "voice." In response, he uses Peircean semiotics and recent work in discourse and performance theory to map the connections between physical, musical, and linguistic play in capoeira and to reflect on the general relations between semiotic systems and the creation and recording of cultural meaning.

Table of Contents

List of Maps, Tables, and Figures

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

The Origins of Capoeira

Capoeira in Salvador

Jogar--Body Play

Tocar--Musical Play

Brincar--Verbal Play

Conclusion

Laban Notation of Capoeira Ginga

Movement Repertoire

Names of Masters Cited

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Discography

Films and Videos

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.