African-Brazilian Culture and Regional Identity in Bahia, Brazil by Scott Ickes (review)

In this study, Scott Ickes submits an introduction, six chapters, and a conclusion/epilogue. He also offers a list of illustrations and abbreviations, an appendix, notes, glossary, bibliography, and an index. The book renders an historical overview of Salvador from the 1930s to the 1950s, occasionally transcending that time-frame to introduce insightful comparisons with the rest of the country, most often with Rio de Janeiro and/or São Paulo. Focusing on Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemony, especially in relation to questions of authority, legitimacy, the consent of rule, and ideological negotiation, the author analyzes the discourse of cultural inclusion, relations of power in Salvador as well as in the rest of the country, vis-à-vis Getúlio Vargas’ political and economic policies, and his overarching project on cultural identity and “Brazilianness.” To accomplish that, Ickes turns to public festivals and ritual performances, analyzing the central role journalists, writers, intellectuals, artists, and politicians had in altering “the ideological evaluation of those practices after 1930” (15). Although, in general, the book seems to target a reading public that is less familiar with Bahian culture and its historical process, in some parts, the author deepens the analyses to allow those already familiar with the region to see the intersections where history, politics, popular culture, and regional identity come together to form the larger discourse of modernization in Bahia.

As the title of chapter one (“Salvador, Bahia, 1930–1954”) indicates, it is a chronological introduction to the political, cultural, and economic realities of the city during that period. It also provides an overview of the “the colonial attitudes and relationships” (such as the patron-client relationship) which survived well into the mid-twentieth century (20). Although the author is focusing on a limited time period, his conclusions can be extended beyond that time-frame. Clientelism, and “the vertical glue that bonded social relationships” (20), is still alive and well in contemporary Salvador. This chapter also paves the way for discussions presented in subsequent chapters by introducing Vargas’ “carrot-and-stick economic measures” and his “corporativist vision of an organic, hierarchically ordered, and harmonious social body” (21). In particular, it addresses Vargas’ political agenda, populist maneuvers, and cultural policy, which used both patronage and censorship to lure intellectuals and artists to contribute to the consolidation of his project of nationalism.

Chapter 2 (“Revitalization of African-Bahian Culture”) opens with an introduction to Juracy Magalhães, an outsider and great communicator from the state of Ceará, who was appointed by Vargas in 1931 as governor of Bahia and, from the regime’s point of view, became a very successful interventor, making ample usage of “co-optation and compromise” (42). To accomplish that, he copied Vargas’ tactics and introduced a significant “number of administrative and political measures that promoted bonds between the working class and himself” (41). He also engaged public intellectuals (such as Jorge Amado and Édison Carneiro) in his project, by establishing alliances with them and reaching out to popular art forms, festivities, and Afro-Brazilian traditions, and lifting bans that prohibited their practices. This chapter also offers an introduction to the history of Candomblé, capoeira, samba, and the ritual Washing of the Church of Bonfim.

In Chapter 3, “Performing Bahia: Public Festivals, Samba, and African-Bahian Agency,” Ickes expands on previous references to festivities and Afro-Brazilian traditions in Salvador. In addition, he discusses “Festas Juninas,” “Festas de Largo” (which take place at public plazas close to a Catholic church), and the festival of Yemanjá in Rio Vermelho, offering an overview of the historical and political process of their development.

Chapter 4 (“Rituals of Inclusion: Evolving Discourses of Bahianness”) addresses how the State employed popular festivities and rituals to win over elites, institutionalize popular culture in Salvador, and bank on the potential the African-derived festivities and rituals had to attract tourism to the region. This chapter contributes new discussions on the “corporativist social vision of...