Rio Carnival Rebellion

This essay will be exploring whether it is possible to see the Rio Carnival as a ‘ritual of rebellion’,

I will be defining the relationship between rituals and religion and exploring symbols, race, power, national identity and oppressive structures within Brazil, with reference to the Rio Carnival. Max Gluckman (1982) described ‘rituals of rebellion’ as ‘customary rules, conventions and hierarchies which are turned upside down… allowing people to behave in normally prohibited ways, they gave expression, in reversed form, to the normal rightness of a particular kind of social order’. This notion can be defined as a rebellion rather than a revolution, as tensions are expressed through ritual terms, which does not overthrow the system. Levi-Strauss

Furthermore, from this perspective we can deduce African and Islamic ancestral cults could be considered as paganism, whereas, the idea of the ‘evil eye’ and belief that you could die due to witchcraft, is merely superstition. Tylor (1968) defines religion as a ‘belief in supernatural beings’ and this form of social belief in supernatural powers are made into public terms through rituals. The function of religion in ‘primitive societies’ comprises of forming integration and solidarity through rituals and collective representations. Identifying the ideological aspects of religion and ritual requires some connections to politics and power. Marx’s theory is that ‘religion is the opium of the people’ and functions as a drug and calms people down, ‘diverting interest from the real practical issues to the city fantasies about happy afterlife for pious and

The average genetic difference between two individuals of the same 'race' is about the same as that of two individuals from different so-called 'races’ and it is impossible to produce any meaningful genetic distinction between races. Skin colour correlates with sunlight and latitude therefore there is geographical variations not racial or genetic. Race might not be ‘real’ biologically speaking but, it is certainly relevant, it is a powerful socially constructed term. Anthropologist Peter Wade undertook research across Latin America to understand and break down the odd dual reality between racial democracy and racism. Geneticists have used sociological definitions to identify their sample populations and then they would present them as having these genetic profiles. Geneticists deny any biological variations of race as a concept, even though the nation racially segregates itself. Similarly, to Brazil, which has been defined as a racial