Migration as Epic Journey – On the Northeastern Diaspora in Brazil Understood from the Viewpoint of the Song “Pau de Arara”, by Luiz Gonzaga and Guio de Moraes

Abstract

Anthropological and historical study of the song “Pau de Arara”, a maxixe by Luiz Gonzaga and Guio de Moraes, from 1952. The song is understood as a verbal and musical narrative about Northeastern migration toward Southern Brazil. The song’s lyrics consider the referred migration as an epic journey. I depart from this to clarify that the miserable conditions of the voyagers’ material means are completely defeated by their musical and cultural background richness. The notion of diaspora –based on both João Pacheco de Oliveira and James Clifford– is used to understand the universe of Northeastern migrations, particularly toward São Paulo. Here the music and dance genre forró is shown to be the musical and cultural background of the voyager and the forró venues (casas de forró) as the nuclear point of its “chunks” (pedaços), as defined by José Guilherme Magnani.