The Jongo and the New Afro-Brazilian Performativity

The jongo is an Afro-Brazilian dance created by ancient slaves in large farms in Brazil where coffee was grown in the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, urbanization & migration to major cities in Brazil have almost been banished. It would happen only in small cities that have experienced economic decline after the abolition of slavery & the decline of the coffee culture. Nowadays, these Afro-Brazilian communities use the jongo to build an identity & a memory in the context of cultural affirmation. This practice attracts the interest & the support of students & researchers because it legitimates the identities (Black & Brazilian) of this population & its "understandings" of history & slavery, while facilitating its access to private & governmental funds. The jongo is an illustration of the new Afro-Brazilian performativity in the context of the transnationalization of the Black movement & of its former & new claims. Adapted from the source document.