Football arrived in Brazil, as in other parts of Latin America, on the heels of European immigration, as an upper-class pastime centered on the English-educated, wealthy suburbs of big cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
But soon, European styles and players - including Arthur Friedenreich Brazil’s first football star - merged with the Afro-Brazilian influences of the favela, where the daily struggle of survival and the virtuous footwork of samba dancing produced different approaches to European working-class soccer.
This more individualistic ethos, demonstrated by unlikely heroes such as Garrincha, is also celebrated (and caricatured) in some of the great works of modern Brazilian literature, such as Mário de Andrade’s novel Macunaíma.
How have literature, music and film contributed to the myth of Brazil’s jogo bonito? And does football provide a key for understanding Brazilian culture at large?
The FIFA World Football Museum invites you to a free, in-depth lecture on the subject by Professor Jens Andermann, Director of Latin American Center Zurich and Editor of the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies. Once finished, the talk will open to the audience for questions.
Date: Wednesday, 8 February 2017
Time: 19.30 - 21.00
Language: English
Entrance: Free