BLACK EPISTEMICIDE IN BOSSA NOVA: ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NARRATIVE ABOUT RACE IN BOSSA NOVA BETWEEN THE YEARS OF 1959 AND 1963

• Grant number: 24/16583-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Journalism and Publishing
• Principal Investigator: Angela Maria Grossi
• Grantee: Pedro Santos Freire
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes, Comunicação e Design (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In a period in which discussions about race and cultural appropriation are growing, this research seeks to understand the impact of media discourse on the portrait of the bossa nova movement between its most relevant years, 1959 to 1963. Since bossa nova, due to its characteristics, and particular dynamics, serves as a mirror of the Brazilian reality of the period. It also serves as a locus for discussions about whiteness, race, cultural appropriation and class, considering that the movement also represents a product of cultural legitimization of the white middle class of the period. Furthermore, the bossa nova movement served as an object of study for the analysis of the cultural journalism that portrayed it, but which was profoundly affected by it. Changing editorial and writing characteristics about specialized journalism and in particular music journalism, which from this point on changes its approach as previous studies point out. Therefore, the racial dynamics contained and represented in the publications of the newspapers "O Estado de S. Paulo" and "Folha de S. Paulo" of the period will be discussed, through the systematization of news values, provision of graphic elements and the framework given through the texts. With a theoretical foundation through a bibliographical review, a documentary analysis will be carried out anchored by content analysis in order to evaluate, from a racial perspective, how the bossa-nova movement, its artists and the social dynamics involved were portrayed. The origins, political and social context of the movement, as well as the artists involved, must be delimited in order to restrict the research considering the multifaceted nature of the theme that permeates the origins of samba and how it is used to construct a cultural product aimed at the Brazilian white middle class, in a period of formation of national identity, and consolidation of values ¿¿such as those of the "myth of racial democracy" intrinsic to bossa nova. As an outcome of this case study, it is expected to estimate the impact of the media on the construction of the image of black artists involved with the movement such as Johnny Alf, Alaíde Costa and Elza Soares. Furthermore, evaluate the repercussion of the media in the construction of the movement's image in terms of establishing an ethnic-racial standard. Thus observing the portrait of bossa nova as a reflection of Brazilian reality in terms of race and class.