This presentation by ethnomusicologist Daniel Sharp (Tulane University) examines how music and mass media contribute to the production of the northeast region of Brazil as a nostalgic space in the national imaginary, distanced from modern national identities. It focuses on the televised images and sounds of two groups from the semi-arid interior city of Arcoverde, Pernambuco: Samba de Coco Raízes de Arcoverde, marked as traditional, and Cordel do Fogo Encantado, marketed as a rooted cos- mopolitan sound. It traces how both groups face an idiosyncratic play of social inclusion and social exclusion, as being celebrated as the symbolic essence of a region does not necessarily translate into the material benefits of full cultural citizenship. Cordel and Coco Raízes have made progress in their efforts to proliferate more nuanced contemporary narratives of the music of the northeast. Yet, as their audience broadens, both continue to find themselves ensnared in the very discourses of folkloric tradition that they seek to transform.

Presented by College of Charleston: Department of Music, Department of Philosophy, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, School of the Arts, Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program

DETAILS: Thursday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m. | Cato Center for the Arts, room 234 – 161 Calhoun St. | FREE