Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

COMPETING MASTER NARRATIVES 19
Marinho also was a capoeirista, and a student and admirer of Burlamaqui. During many years he tried to
convince his superiors that capoeira should become the Brazilian gymnastics. In a 1944 monograph,
awarded by the DEF and published a year later, he proposed a capoeira ‘training plan’, which reiterated
much of Burlamaqui’s work. In the first part he gave a detailed account of capoeira history, which departed
in some aspects from his master’s interpretation. One of the reasons was that the writings on capoeira from
the Bahian School such as Querino and Carneiro (analysed below) had made clear that capoeira was more
than a by-product of colonial exploitation and resistance to slavery in the Brazilian environment, and that it
also built on earlier African traditions. This resulted in a slight re-adaptation of the nationalist discourse on
capoeira. The African origin (and Querino’s and Carneiro’s work) were now acknowledged, but the mestiços
and mulattos were still credited with having ‘developed’ the art further:
Although originally from the blacks (negros), capoeiragem was assimilated and developed by the
mestiços—mulattos, finding a productive field and new qualities to explore. 52
The influence of racial theories was steadily declining in the world after 1945. Yet Brazilian nationalists, in
particular sympathizers of European fascism such as Marinho, often clung to these outdated theories.
Marinho and many others still reproduced the stereotype of the intelligent and skilful mulatto during
subsequent decades:
[…] more intelligent than the black and more dexterous than the white, the mulatto became the ideal
type of capoeira, excessively arrogant in his worry to show that he had not the deference of the black
slave. 53
Marinho also issued a ‘capoeira prayer’ that summarizes the most extreme nationalist aspirations regarding
capoeira:
From the inner depths of my being arises a new craving for corporal expression, as if my soul had
escaped from centuries of oppression. I shall no longer be compelled to repeat the typical gestures of
cultural affirmation of other nations. I have succeeded in freeing myself from those rhythms that
obsessed me, upset the balance of my movements, and suppressed the musicality of my forebears. At
last I became aware of my own rhythm, which helped me cast off age-old inhibitions and allowed me
to give free rein to my feelings, hopes, thoughts, and ideals! Now I am free! I profoundly respect the
physical culture of other nations, but I need, want, and must perform my own—the BRAZILIAN
GYMNASTICS! 54
This prayer completely erases any references to slavery, colonialism and class antagonism so central to
capoeira history. They are sacrificed for the sake of a homogenous nation created by unspecified ancestors.
As we are going to see in Chapter 7, the exaltation of Brazil in capoeira, especially in capoeira Regional
circles, has not stopped ever since. The persistence of what I suggest to call, in analogy with other Brazilian
nationalist art movements, the ‘capoeira verde amarela’ (green and yellow are the national colours of
Brazil) is the result of a long standing tradition. With roots in the patriotism of Brazilian independence and
the nationalist surge of the First Republic, it developed in particular during the intense nationalist
mobilization of the populist regimes (1945–1964) and the nationalist indoctrination promoted by the
military dictatorship (1964–1985).