Article

(Hy-)Brazil, Celtic land? An Ethnomusicological Study of the Formation and Characteristics of the Irish Celtic Music Scene in Brazil

Caetano Maschio Santos

Published in: Ethnomusicology Ireland 6 (2020)

Pages: 41-60 | Published Online: July 2020

https://doi.org/10.64208/ZNLP1707

Abstract

This paper presents an ethnomusicological study of the formation and characteristics of a relatively new Irish-Celtic music scene in Brazil. Clustered in major urban centers, a musical community devoted to Irish-Celtic music has developed during the last fifteen years, assisted by the power of the internet and social networks, and supported by the effort of engaged Brazilian culture brokers that maintain a virtual Atlantic bridge between Brazil and Ireland. The Brazilian Irish-Celtic music scene portrays a significant level of diversity in the practices and discourses of its participants, largely sprung about by the culture industry that boomed surrounding all things Irish during the Celtic Tiger period (mid-1990s to late-2000s), particularly Irish traditional music and Irish pubs. This diversity provides the foundation for my own analysis of issues of "authenticity" and tradition involved in the adoption of a non-native musical culture in a nation with meagre historic ties to Ireland.

Keywords: Irish traditional music; Brazil; globalisation; Celtic music, music scenes

Author: Caetano Maschio Santos