CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

FOLKLORE


Negrinho do Pastoreio

    Introduction
     Definition:
    " It is the social-cultural Science that studies spontaneous culture displays of the lettered society members. Having this concept as basis, man from illiterate societies is not folklore study object. Folklore studies the transculturation project, the display and influence of cultures that have interacted in time, and are still interacting in the formation of spontaneous Brazilian culture". (Maria do Rosário S. Tavares de Lima, diretora-administrativa do Museu do Folclore de São Paulo)
    The word folklore derives from the English language, folk + lore. Its creator was the English archaeologist William John Thoms (16/11/1803- 15/08/1885).
    Indispensable characteristics from the folkloric fact:
    1. having function (spiritual or material) in the social place where it occurs;
    2. not suffering direct influence from the another kind of cultures: learned and of mass;
    3. having collective acceptance (from the big majority).
    The expression of spontaneous culture can have known author, as the folkloric plastic artists and authors from strings. It can be given by written transmission as it happens to the miracle prays and cook or therapeutic recipes.
    Folkloric expressions are generally (but not dutly) traditional. As good examples we have the adoption of "secret friend" and the colors of clothes that are used in the New Year, being really adopted nowadays.
    We can also define folklore as: the joint of myths, beliefs, popular histories, legends, traditions and costumes and another displays acquired and developed spontaneously by men in their familiarity, which are transmitted from generation to generation, that is part of popular culture.
    Folklore is the most legitimate peoples cultural expression.
    As said by Niomar de Souza Pereira (Folclore -Teorias- Conceitos- Campo de Ação. Cia Editora Nacional-São Paulo, 1986), culture is displayed in three ways:
    Learned: it is transmitted for example by schools, Universities, churches, press and movies.
    Spontaneous: it is informally learned with the men living together, from birth to death; and,
    Popular: produced or spread by small or big enterprises, generally commercial and of consume (called of mass or popular).
    Spontaneous culture consists of the joint of knowledge learned in the familiarity and it is result of the empiric experience among men, it is known as FOLKLORE.

    Mainly characteristics:
    - popular
    - comes from cultural knowledge
    - constituted in a tradition
    - notably transmitted by orallity and practice
    - part of collective knowledge
    - shows a situation or action
    - universal character
    - anonymous, because the creators are unknown
    - free and spontaneous people creativity

    Cultural heritage
    Folklore, as people expression is part of his cultural rich and so it is insert cultural heritage.

    Brazilian legal protection
    Folklore is part of our cultural heritage, and so must be protected by every law that calls attention to culture, as our Federal Constitution (art. 215 and 216) and the Civil Action Law (7347/85).

    Folkloric displays
    For each learned knowledge area there is a corresponding in folklore. It could be possible to invert the terms of comparison, because the common sense precede the formal one, because it is systematized by an empiric data on which scientist applies adequate observation and methodologies.("Apoio Folclore" da Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação, SP, 1989)
    Belongs to folklore: All the expressions of popular culture, spontaneous, not directed, informally learned in an unconscious process of acceptance and imitation in the living of families and friends. So we have myths, beliefs, popular histories, legends, traditions and costumes, dances, songs, religiosity, cults, typical language of a region, popular medicine, crafts etc.

    Mythology
    Myths are beings that exist in the super-human world, from which histories are told.
    Some Brazilian characters and their myths are:

  ANHANGÁ - Amazonian mythological character that protects nature, specially animals. It comes in a deer form with fire eyes covered by fur.

  BICHO-PAPÃO - a kind of man-animal, that frighten children, because they can appear for eating them if they don't eat rightly or not obey their parents. This mythological is a lot used by parents to frighten their children. 

  BOITATÁ - Fire-snake that roaming about country-side, protect there from those who fire them.

  CAIPORA ou CAAPORA - small Indian covered by fur, who own the hunt and appreciates smoke and cachaça (Brazilian drink) or a small peasant that appears in a wood-pig.

  CHUPA-CABRAS - Brazilian Southeast mythology. An animal that looks like wolf kills domestic animals, mainly chicken, dogs, goats and sheeps, sucking their blood by a hole they do in the neck of the victim. It has been calling the press attention recently.

  CUCA - Witch that looks alike a big green caterpillar, that is always being bad with her witchcraft. It can be a woman with bad aspect and that takes children that are not sleeping at night.

  CURUPIRA - This name comes from "tupi": curu- meaning boy and pira- body. With red hair and inverted feet to throwing off the hunters, it protects forests. It is said to be the first Brazilian lend, being told by José de Anchieta when he wrote about Indians fears.

  JURUPARI - mythological character of Amazonian Indian people, that mysteriously teaches the costumes, social rules and has created sacred instruments.

  LOBISOMEM - this myth has come from Europe. The character is a wolf that threatens people in nights with full moon. The Werewolf is a man who has been transformed as a punishment, by having infringed some religious and social costumes

  MÃO GRANDE - Typical mythological character form Pantanal- Brazil. It is a man that walks around this area and that seizes rider by the neck with its big hands and kills him.

  MAPINGUARI - Amazonian mythological character that laughs loud, frightening people. It just dies if reached by a bullet done of candle wax that have been lightened in a Christmas Night. 

  MULA-SEM-CABEÇA - It is a non-head mule that throw fire by the nose and mouth in the nights of Thursdays do Fridays. Its neigh is listened in big distances, making people afraid. People say that it is a woman that becomes in the form of this animal because she had an affair with a priest.

  NEGRO D'ÁGUA - Brazilian Central-West mythology. It is a half man, half fish, with monkey's ears and a fish's comb and that knock down the canoe if the fisher does not give it a piece of fish. It is said that it is so strong and was seen by almost every fisherman in the region.

  PAIQUERÊ - Brazilian south mythology originated by Indian tradition. Paiquerê is a kind of paradise, with beautiful fields, rivers and trees full of fruits. 

  SACÍ-PERERÊ - It is one of the most known mystical characters in Brazil. It is a black naughty and one-legged boy who uses red cap and a pipe in the mouth and is always annoying people. People are afraid of him because he is always annoying night travelers and sometimes go into houses to do mess. People are also afraid of his crazy whistle and the mess, doing noodles in the horses' mane.

    Brazilian superstitions and beliefs:
    This elements are the fear of doing or not doing something that could bring misfortune or unhappy.
    Some examples:
    - scowl in the prow: keep bad spirits away
    - acauã sing: brings rain
    - hummingbird coming into the house: luck
    - vulture on the house: back luck
    - Listening to uirapuru singing: good luck and happy
    - passing through leaders: bad luck and people does not go on in life.
    - Point up stars: appears wart in the body
    - Fridays 13: bad luck day. To avoid it people does not go out of home.
    - spill salt in the ground: bad luck

    Brazilian Legends

  BOTO -Amazon dolphin appears in the June parties, becoming a young man that is always using a cap, because its transformation is not complete. It conquests the first beautiful young girl that it sees, taking her to the rivers.

  CIGARRA - As it did not want to be with its mother that was too sick and had gone to sing in a party, this has brought bad presentiment to it. That it is bad of just singing. So that is the reason for it singing until its death.

  ERVA-MATE - South Brazilian Indian lend that says about the appearing of mate-herb, from which comes the traditional tea, famous in all the Brazilian South Region.

  GUARANÁ - Its origin is from the Amazonian Indians. It is a plant that emerged from human eyes, called guaraná that means "looking like alive people". 

  NEGRINHO DO PASTOREIO - Originated from Rio Grande do Sul- Brazil, it talks about a black boy who had lost a horses' race, and was sent to a place far away from this one. He was a shepherd, and a day did everything wrong, so his "owner" almost killed him, but in the day after, as he had called "Nossa Senhora", he was good. So, people say that every time you lose something you may call neguinnho do pastoreio and light a candle to the saint.

  PINDORAMA - Brazilian starting lend. This name means palm trees country, and was proposed by a little boy.

  PIRACUCU - Era um índio, bravo guerreiro, porém com coração perverso. Um dia, Tupã, o deus maior dos índios resolveu puni-lo, unindo-se com outros deuses indígenas. O deus Xandoré, atirando relâmpagos e trovões em Piracucu, acertou-o em seu coração, mas mesmo assim Piracucu não pediu perdão, e foi levado ainda vivo para o Rio Tocantins, desaparecendo nas águas e se transformando em um peixe escuro e gigante;

   UIRAPURU - One of the most known and beautiful Brazilian Indian legend. An Indian had cried so much because she had lost an Indian to another one, being transformed in a bird for seeing her love without being noticed. But as she was right that his love loved the another Indian, she went to the forest, being away from them. As a prize, she had the most beautiful singing in the forest.

   Folguedos
    Examples: Moçambique, Reisado, Folias de Reis, Fandango, Vaquejada, Maracatu, Bumba-meu-boi, Festas Juninas, Congadas, Cavalhadas, Alardo, Mulinha de Ouro, Jaraguá etc.

    Regional Dances
    Frevo, bambelô, baião, cabinda, maracatu, chote nordestino, xaxado, fandango, chula, pau-de-fita, cururu, recortado, marimbondo e capoeira.

Clothes
    Brazilian typical clothes are composed by three different ways:

  
Photos: Folklore Museum in São Paulo- SP
        Leather clothes (Northeast), special dresses in Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul typical clothes.

- Drawings of the collaborator and painter Ivo Almídio. Tel: (11) 4076-3299

This page had the critical and technical collaboration of Maria do Rosário S. Tavares de Lima, director of the Brazilian Folklore Association (Rossini Tavares de Lima Museum)

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