The symbolic constitution of a black backlands: racialized aesthetics in the Brazilian country music

Abstract

The flow of symbolic repertoires we see not only in the displacement of people, but also of signs (texts, sounds and images), is fundamental to the sociological understanding of black experiences in modern societies. As aesthetics in movement, black musicalities, in turn, are seen as a central element of the political culture forged by Afro-diasporic experiences. In this article, we seek to demonstrate that country music can also be seen as part of the mosaic of black modernities established in Brazil. This is because, in addition to being performed in many cases by black artists, there is a part of country music that constituted a racialized aesthetic, which configured memories and narratives about the blackness of part of the country population. Through country music, black ruralities were recreated and reinvented during the modernization processes experienced by Brazilian society.

Keywords:
Brazilian country music; black musicalities; black ruralities