Cultural Creolisation and Playfulness: An Example of Capoeira Angola in Russia

Abstract

Literature on cultural creolisation and hybridity often assumes that innovation and creativity accompany cultural mixing. Ethnographic data from two groups practising an Afro-Brazilian art-form in Russia suggests that some processes of cultural mixing are more creative than others. Maria Lugones' notion of playfulness can help us understand why. Playfulness as an attitude implies critical openness towards the new and unknown. With this attitude the practitioners of capoeira angola in Ufa create an exciting environment that is open to individual initiative and experimentation. The less playful group of capoeira in Samara follows the existing Brazilian norms and rules of capoeira angola rather rigidly. Therefore, cultural mixing of Russian and Afro-Brazilian worlds occurs more creatively in one case than in the other. There is more freedom for unique initiatives in cultural creolisation that is characterised by the attitude of playfulness.

Keywords:

• Creolisation
• cultural mixing
• playfulness
• Lugones
• intercultural encounter
• capoeira
• capoeira angola
• Russia
• ethnography

Notes

[1] Roda is the circle formed by capoeiristas in which the game of capoeira is played.

[2] Interview excerpts have been translated from Russian into English by the author.