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Book Details
Abstract
Considering the concept of power in capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian ritual art form, Varela describes ethnographically the importance that capoeira leaders (mestres) have in the social configuration of a style called Angola in Bahia, Brazil. He analyzes how individual power is essential for an understanding of the modern history of capoeira, and for the themes of embodiment, play, cosmology, and ritual action. The book also emphasizes the great significance that creativity and aesthetic expression have for capoeira’s practice and performance.
Sergio González Varela is Professor of Anthropology at Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He is currently working on a book about the anthropologist Paul Stoller.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contents | 7 | ||
| Illustrations | 8 | ||
| Acknowledgments | 9 | ||
| Preface | 12 | ||
| Introduction | 17 | ||
| Chapter 1 — The Fight for Recognition: A Brief History of Capoeira Angola in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil | 30 | ||
| Chapter 2 — Capoeira Angola in Its Own Right | 61 | ||
| Chapter 3 — Cosmological Bodies | 89 | ||
| Chapter 4 — Mandinga: The Creation of Powerful Persons | 110 | ||
| Chapter 5 — Playful Violence and the Ambiguity of Deception | 126 | ||
| Chapter 6 — How Musical Instruments Become Persons: The Power of Materiality | 147 | ||
| Epilogue | 161 | ||
| Glossary | 164 | ||
| References | 167 | ||
| Index | 177 |