{"id":7445,"date":"2017-03-05T16:44:49","date_gmt":"2017-03-05T16:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/?p=7445"},"modified":"2017-03-10T17:36:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T17:36:19","slug":"the-history-of-carnaval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/the-history-of-carnaval\/","title":{"rendered":"The history of Carnaval"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re currently in Brazil, you\u2019ll notice that talking about the carnaval festivities is an unavoidable <\/span>assunto<\/span><\/i> (subject) in the country for the past few<\/span> semanas <\/span><\/i>(weeks). As we all know, the event is an element of our national culture and widely celebrated throughout the nation, in addition to being a major <\/span>feriado<\/span><\/i> (holiday). People even tend to <\/span>dizer<\/span><\/i> (say) \u201cO ano s\u00f3 come\u00e7a depois do <\/span>Carnaval<\/b>\u201d, meaning that \u201cthe year only begins after carnaval\u201d. The party, which ended last <\/span>quarta<\/span><\/i> (Wednesday) is the most popular and probably one of the largest events in Brazil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Desfile das Escolas de Samba
(Photo by Visit.Rio)<\/p><\/div>\n

So <\/span>hoje<\/span><\/i> (today), many foli\u00f5es (relevelers) are <\/span>ainda<\/span><\/i> (still) mourning the end of party season. How about we focus on the <\/span>passado<\/span><\/i> (past), then, and learn a little more about history of <\/span>Carnaval<\/b>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Although it is a typically Brazilian <\/span>festa<\/span><\/i> (party), its precise origins are uncertain and carnaval is known to be celebrated <\/span>no mundo todo<\/span><\/i> (worldwide). Commonly referred to as Mardi Gras in the US or Shrove Tuesday in England, these festivals are held all over Europe and America.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is said that <\/span>Carnava<\/b>l has both pagan and catholic origins, dating back to the egyptians\u2019 and romans\u2019 and their celebrations. <\/span>Ent\u00e3o<\/span><\/i> (so), <\/span>Carnaval <\/b>has historical roots from classic antiquity.\u00a0Extravagant fun, games, masked balls, music, dancing and drinking have sempre <\/i>(always) been characteristic of those days. And still are!<\/span>
\nThe <\/span>palavra<\/span><\/i> (word) allegedly comes from the latin expression <\/span>carnis levale<\/span><\/i> (translated as <\/span>adeus \u00e0 carne<\/span><\/i> – farewell to the meat)<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> related to a period of fasting which occured <\/span>antes<\/span><\/i> (before) easter. It is <\/span>agora <\/span><\/i>(now) known as quaresma (lent), <\/span>when many religious people abstain from something. In Brazil, it is traditional to make a <\/span>promessa <\/span><\/i>(promise), that is, you renounce something that you really gosta (like), for example: <\/span>beber<\/span><\/i> (drinking), <\/span>comer carne<\/span><\/i> (eating meat), <\/span>fumar<\/span><\/i> (smoking), and only resume it when it\u2019s easter. Some claim that this is <\/span>an attempt from the Catholic church to appropriate Carnaval festivities and control wordly pleasures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Desfile das Escolas de Samba
(photo by Visit.Rio)<\/p><\/div>\n

Aqui<\/span><\/i> (here),<\/span> early expressions<\/span> of the public celebration were inspired by outras (other) European cultures. <\/span>People used to toss water and flour at each other back then, that\u2019s how <\/span>Carnaval<\/b> used to be in Brazil <\/span>durante<\/span><\/i> (during) colonial times, changing around the 19th century, quando<\/i> (when) authentic Brazilian rhythms were then incorporated. <\/span>Nevertheless, the party is often associated with a time of subversion of social roles, that is why there is the tradition of inverting characters and dressing in <\/span>fantasias<\/span><\/i> (costumes). It is <\/span>tamb\u00e9m <\/span><\/i>(also) a moment to indulge and give in to impulses and desires before returning to normal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carnaval at Samb\u00f3dromo
(photo by Visit.Rio)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h3>\n

Nowadays, what we come to know as <\/span>Carnaval<\/b> in the country probably transformed significantly. This cultural manifestation has gained immense proportions (it is one of the <\/span>maiores<\/span><\/i> – biggest in the world), millions of people crowd the <\/span>ruas<\/span><\/i> (streets), the <\/span>desfiles <\/span><\/i>(parades) and competitions between <\/span>escolas de samba<\/span><\/i> (samba schools) are<\/span> even broadcast on television networks, which attracts thousands of tourists. <\/span>Carnaval in Brazil usually starts at around cinquenta (50) days before easter and it <\/span>dura<\/span><\/i> (lasts) for <\/span>quatro<\/span><\/i> (4) days. We understand it as a date to put our daily worries and behavior on hold and enjoy <\/span>liberdade<\/span><\/i> (freedom)! <\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a comprehensive list of older post related to carnaval so you can keep track of what we\u2019ve been discussing on the subject: <\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnaval-2011-countdown-sao-paulo-samba-schools\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnaval-2011-countdown-chiclete-com-banana\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnaval\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnaval-de-rua\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/rio-carnival-documentaries\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/rio-de-janeiro-samba-schools\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnival-in-recife\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/lyrics-practice-mangueira\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/podcast-using-the-past-tense-to-discuss-carnival\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnival-in-brazil-rio-de-janeiro\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/carnival-in-brazil-salvador\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Now that’s enough of folia<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Tenham uma \u00f3tima semana! Have a great week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you\u2019re currently in Brazil, you\u2019ll notice that talking about the carnaval festivities is an unavoidable assunto (subject) in the country for the past few semanas (weeks). As we all know, the event is an element of our national culture and widely celebrated throughout the nation, in addition to being a major feriado (holiday). People…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":7448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1845,1846,3,1848,4],"tags":[1990,463377,463368],"class_list":["post-7445","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brazilian-news","category-brazilian-profile","category-culture","category-customs","category-entertainment","tag-carnaval","tag-carnaval-brasil","tag-carnaval-brazil"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7445"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7458,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7445\/revisions\/7458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/portuguese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}