Transnational gender and racial performances in Brazilian revues: the influence of American follies on Rio de Janeiro's popular culture in the 1920s

• Grant number: 25/07068-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 18, 2025
• End date: May 15, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Maria Sílvia Betti
• Grantee: João Victor Pereira da Silva
• Supervisor: Kathryn Sanchez
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/07215-7 - Comparative drama: portrayals of the national and the popular in musical dramas in the United States and Brazil (1910 - 1940), BP.DR

Abstract

The Brazilian revue ("teatro de revista") was a prominent theatrical genre that played a pivotal role in shaping popular culture in early 20th-century Brazil, particularly in Rio de Janeiro. Originating from the French revue tradition and influenced by American theatrical and musical trends, the genre evolved into a hybrid form that reflected the cultural and social transformations of the period, especially in terms of gender and racial performances, through key figures such as the vedete and the mulato. This research project explores the transatlantic exchanges between American and Brazilian revue theaters, focusing on how American gender and racial performance practices influenced the teatro de revista in the 1920s. It intends to examine the impact of foreign mass culture - especially Hollywood cinema, jazz, and musical theater - on the modernization of this genre in Brazil, highlighting the transition from localized, folk-inspired performances to commercialized spectacles. Through an analysis of key theatrical Brazilian productions such as "Tudo Preto" (1926), by De Chocolat, and "Olha o Guedes!" (1924), by Cardoso de Menezes and Carlos Bittencourt, the study draws comparisons with American revues such as "The Ziegfeld Follies", "The Passing Show" and the "Blackbirds" series from the 1920s. By investigating archival materials and engaging with theoretical frameworks from gender and racial performance studies, this work will trace the cultural flows that contributed to the shaping of modern Brazilian popular culture and will contribute to a broader understanding of cultural hybridization in Latin American theater and shed new light on the enduring impact of theatrical exchanges on national, gender and racial identity formation in Brazil. (AU)