Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

18 COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES
inferiority of non-whites and the very existence of human races. The concept of ‘race’ was being substituted
by that of ‘culture’, and the social and cultural environment now explained differences among human
beings. That change of paradigm had a profound impact on Brazil, in particular through the work of
Gilberto Freyre (1900–1987), who studied anthropology with Boas. His classic essay on the genesis of
Brazilian society, The Masters and Slaves (1933) valorized, for the first time, the biological miscegenation
of white masters and enslaved Indians and Africans. According to him, a parallel process of cultural
hybridization had taken place in Brazil, resulting in the adoption of Indian and African elements in Brazilian
culture. Later critics have pointed out that his writings are rather ambiguous and still contain reminiscences
of racial ideology. Freyre, for instance, still indulged in stereotyped judgements about Africans and native
Brazilians and their ‘exalted sexuality’ or ‘hot mysticism’. 48 Yet this was a new, and more positive
approach towards the Brazilian population and thus the potential of the Brazilian national character. Widely
acclaimed in the 1930s, his work remained very influential throughout the twentieth century. For instance,
since Freyre the metaphor of biological miscegenation has been frequently used to describe cultural
processes of hybridization. Furthermore, his work was paramount to formulate the myth of racial
democracy, a device through which subsequent Brazilian governments avoided any discussion of the racial
discrimination occurring in the country.
Major political change also altered the ways brasilidade was discussed and promoted. The revolution of
1930 profoundly restructured the whole field of culture. From now on the state was to have an important, if
not decisive role in cultural management. Keen not to leave out any aspect of ‘national life’, the Vargas
regime greatly expanded the budget for education and created new institutions whose role was to foster
‘cultural development’. This included not only the preservation of cultural patrimony, but also support for
‘patriotic causes’ such as physical education. 49
Since the state now appeared keen to invest in culture, many intellectuals accepted playing a role in the
process, even if they had substantial reservations about the regime. Cultural nationalism became hegemonic
during the period 1930–1964 and has remained influential at state level ever since. Yet if the Vargas regime
promoted ‘national culture’, there never was consent within the administration about what exactly should be
encouraged and supported. Traditionalists eager to sponsor the neo-colonial style clashed with modernists
promoting disciples of Le Corbusier. The ‘culture wars’ fought between these factions resulted in cultural
policies often being ambivalent, and single institutions pursuing opposite goals. 50 Modernists were strong
within the Ministry of Education and Health, but popular culture was dealt with by the Department of Press
and Propaganda (the infamous DIP), also responsible for censorship. Concepts of hygienization rather than
outright support guided the DIP’s intervention in popular culture, instructing for instance composers to
praise the hard worker rather than the rogue (malandro) in their carnival songs.
Regarding capoeira the Vargas regime also reversed the position of the state, and authorized the first
capoeira academy, although along the lines of an ‘improved’ and ‘regenerated’ form (see Chapter 5). More
importantly, the 1937 Constitution instituted compulsory physical education in all schools. All new teachers,
even civilians, were enrolled at the School of Physical Education of the Army. An army officer was
appointed chief of the new Division of Physical Education (DEF), who imposed the teaching of the French
method throughout the country. Ever since, physical education in Brazil has been closely associated with
the military. Inspired by the apparent success of fascism in Europe, military and civilians associated with
the DEF promoted the idea that physical education helped to improve the ‘Brazilian race’. Inezil Penna
Marinho, a civilian member of the DEF staff, explicitly praised Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and
claimed in 1944 ‘that each teacher of physical education is a soldier of Brazil, a soldier who not only fights
in times of war, but also during peace […]’ 51