This collection of articles by leading scholars traces the history of Brazilian pop music through the twentieth-century.

This collection of articles traces the history of Brazilian pop music through the 20th century. It focuses on how traditional Brazilian musical styles have been influenced by international popular music - including jazz, rock, and rap-to form new hybrid styles. For anyone interested in the history and scope of Brazilian music, this volume is a must read.

Chico Buarque comprises a critical appreciation of the self-titled album (1978), which is one of the Brazilian artist’s most representative. This vibrant collection displays the singer-songwriter’s singular talents as a composer/poet of songs with both popular appeal and keen analytical skills. The 11 tracks include both up-beat sambas and lyrical compositions: witty tunes, dramatic laments, international items, and, especially, epochal protest songs with fascinating histories. The album embodies Chico Buarque's affective sensibilities and sociopolitical engagement, and this book situates the album in inter-related contexts: the artist's own career; the evolution of the current he represents MPB (Brazilian Popular Music); and, especially, historical conjuncture—the period of military dictatorship in Brazil, 1964-85.

In this highly original volume, Charles Perrone explores how recent Brazilian lyric engages with its counterparts throughout the Western Hemisphere in an increasingly globalized world. This pioneering, tour-de-force study focuses on the years from 1985 to the present and examines poetic output-from song and visual poetry to discursive verse--across a range of media. At the core of Perrone's work are in-depth examinations of five phenomena: the use of the English language and the reception of American poetry in Brazil; representations and engagements with U.S. culture, especially with respect to film and popular music; epic poems of hemispheric solidarity; contemporary dialogues between Brazilian and Spanish American poets; and the innovative musical, lyrical, and commercially successful work that evolved from the 1960s movement Tropicalia.

"Reading Rheda's short stories and novel has been a delightful discovery for me.... Her style is full of wit, delicious and sometimes devastating irony, and captivating poetic imagery. Her book, in short, will be hard for readers to put down." -- David George, Professor of Spanish, Lake Forest College

Regina Rheda is a contemporary award-winning Brazilian writer whose original voice and style have won her many admirers. First World Third Class and Other Tales of the Global Mix presents some of her finest and most representative work to an English-speaking readership. Stories from the Copan Building consists of eight tales set in a famous residential building in Sa o Paulo. The stories, like the apartment complex, are a microcosm of modern-day urban Brazil. They are witty, consistently caustic, and never predictable.

Also in this volume is the poignant and often hilarious novel First World Third Class. It depicts young middle-class professionals and artists who, as opportunities in Brazil diminished, opted to leave their country, even if it meant taking menial jobs abroad. At the center of the narrative is Rita, a thirty-year-old aspiring filmmaker who migrates to England, and then Italy. She looks for work and love in all the wrong places, moving from city to city and from bed to bed.

The last three stories in this collection also happen to be among the author's most recent. "The Enchanted Princess" is an ironic title for a postfeminist tale of a South American woman being wooed to marry an old-world gentleman who promises to take care of her every need. "The Sanctuary" concerns the living conditions of immigrant workers and farm animals. Equally piquant in nature,"The Front" deals with ecology, labor environments, and gender politics.

Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song is a critical study of MPB (m sica popular brasileira), a term that refers to varieties of urban popular music of the 1960s and 1970s, incorporating samba, Bossa Nova, and new materials.

Chico Buarque comprises a critical appreciation of the self-titled album (1978), which is one of the Brazilian artist’s most representative. This vibrant collection displays the singer-songwriter’s singular talents as a composer/poet of songs with both popular appeal and keen analytical skills. The 11 tracks include both up-beat sambas and lyrical compositions: witty tunes, dramatic laments, international items, and, especially, epochal protest songs with fascinating histories. The album embodies Chico Buarque's affective sensibilities and sociopolitical engagement, and this book situates the album in inter-related contexts: the artist's own career; the evolution of the current he represents MPB (Brazilian Popular Music); and, especially, historical conjuncture—the period of military dictatorship in Brazil, 1964-85.

"Utilized in our curriculum for nearly fourteen consecutive years, the text combines pertinent journalistic articles and poems that are relevant to our students' lives while giving them a glimpse of Brazilian culture."--Steven F. Butterman, University of Miami "Cronicas" are "urban chronicles" of varied character--short writings about everyday life, personal commentaries, entertaining story-like pieces, even quasi-editorials. This delightful collection is designed to assist students in developing their reading, speaking, and writing skills in Portuguese as it is used in present-day Brazil.
Building on earlier editions' proven track record in the classroom, this iteration of "Cronicas Brasileiras" has been updated with readings that much better illustrate the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as the first decades of the twenty-first. In addition to enhancing language proficiency, these lively vignettes help readers gain cultural knowledge and sharpen awareness of diverse Brazilian environments.
Annotations, reading comprehension questions, grammar exercises, guided composition, suggestions for discussion, and a vocabulary guide make this book a great fit for those who have mastered elementary Portuguese grammar. More advanced learners will find the "cronicas" valuable for their colloquial style, linguistic variety, and literary significance.