Description

First documented among African and Creole slaves in late colonial Brazil, the martial art capoeira spread,despite periodic clampdowns by the police, to the free underclasses of Brazilian cities throughout thenineteenth century. Capoeira is now a mainstream sport, taught in Brazilian fitness centres, schools anduniversities, and practised by a range of people of different age, class, gender and ethnicity around theworld. Some practitioners now even seek Olympic recognition for capoeira.The change in meaning and purposes of capoeira has led to conflicts between traditionalists, for whomcapoeira is part of an African cultural heritage, and reformers, who wish to see capoeira develop as aninternational sport. There is consensus, however, that capoeira is a weapon to be used against socialinjustice and racial exclusion.Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art explores capoeira as a field of confrontationwhere different struggles that divide Brazilian society are played out. It contains a first English languagescholarly account of capoeira’s early history and development to the present day.Matthias Röhrig Assunção is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of History and the Centre for LatinAmerican Studies, University of Essex, England. His previous publications deal with slavery in Maranhão(Northern Brazil), popular culture and the political history of the Brazilian Empire.EDIT: This Book is completely in english language