Bahian Music Series Part 2: "Nordeste de Amaralina Carnival: Sounds and Reflections"

Laurisabel Maria de Ana da Silva, Ph.D., Ethnomusicology
Federal University of Bahia School of Music
Salvador, Brazil

This presentation will address reflections from research on carnival in the Nordeste de Amaralina neighborhood of Salvador inhabited by a Black majority who earn a minimum wage. The reflections comprise discursive associations made to support the maintenance of carnival celebrations sustained by economic and public agents. It also analyzes how carnival celebrations can be utilized to cope with perceptions constructed about Black populations in the Black diaspora of Salvador to other Brazilian cities and even in Europe—including my fieldwork in London, England.

The Nordeste de Amaralina neighborhood has organized, through different configurations, a street carnival since the 1950s. Cordões, batucadas, schools of samba and sambas juninos have long paraded through the neighborhood’s streets. Currently, blocos with trio elétricos (carnival floats with sounds systems) animate and allow social and political exposure of placement among its residents.