Ring of Liberation Deceptive Discourse in Brazilian Capoeira

Based on eighteen months of intensive participant-observation, Ring of Liberation offers both an in-depth description of capoeiraand#8212;a complex Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines feats of great strength and athleticism with music and poetryand#8212;and a pioneering synthetic approach to the analysis of complex cultural performance.

Capoeira originated in early slave culture and is practiced widely today by urban Brazilians and others. At once game, sport, mock combat, and ritualized performance, it involves two players who dance and "battle" within a ring of musicians and singers. Stunning physical performances combine with music and poetry in a form as expressive in movement as it is in word.

J. Lowell Lewis explores the convergence of form and content in capoeira. The many components and characteristics of this elaborate black art formand#8212;for example, competing genre frameworks and the necessary fusion of multiple modes of expressionand#8212;demand, Lewis feels, to be given "body" as well as "voice." In response, he uses Peircean semiotics and recent work in discourse and performance theory to map the connections between physical, musical, and linguistic play in capoeira and to reflect on the general relations between semiotic systems and the creation and recording of cultural meaning.

Includes discography (p. 252). Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-251) and index.

List of Maps, Tables, and Figures

Foreword, by Robert Farris Thompson

Preface

1. Introduction

2. The Origins of Capoeira

3. Capoeira in Salvador

4. Jogarand#8212;Body Play

5. Tocarand#8212;Musical Play

6. Brincarand#8212;Verbal Play

7. Conclusion

Appendix A: Laban Notation of Capoeira Ginga

Appendix B: Movement Repertoire

Appendix C: Names of Masters Cited

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Discography

Films and Videos

Index