Favela, a Brazilian postcard?

Ambivalent representations of national culture and identity in Anitta’s performance on a foreign stage

Abstract

This work aims to understand how the singer Anitta, as a rising international pop star, promotes the favela as a part of Brazilian culture and identity, and also discuss the implications of this approach in light of the ambivalent representations of this space, which is sometimes viewed as a place of poverty and violence and at other times as a reservoir of authentic cultural expressions. To do this, we describe and analyze one of Anitta’s performances in the American Coachella festival in April 2022, drawing on theoretical frameworks based on cultural studies (Hall, 1992, 2003, 2016; Martín-Barbero, 1995, 2015; García Canclini, 1998) and performance studies (Amaral; Soares; Polivanov, 2018; Pereira de Sá; Holzbach, 2010). We observe that Anitta draws on established references of Brazilian culture and identity while also introducing her own perspective, which is related to an urban peripheral culture. We believe that, by exploring an ambivalent space like the favela, the artist sparks debate about national symbols and what can or cannot be considered part of Brazilian culture and identity.