‘Juntos num só ritmo’: FIFA World Cups of 1950 and 2014 as milestones of Brazil’s advances towards regional representation within Brazilian-ness

Abstract

Due to their periodicity and global reach, sports mega-events play a role in the symbolic construction of an imagined community progress towards a given politic agenda. In the case of Brazil, the FIFA World Cups organized in the country, in 1950 and 2014, may serve as key occasions to the understanding of the historical development of two principles which have been central to Brazilian politics since her independency: unity and modernity; or – as in the national flag motto – order and progress. Therefore, this article sets Brazil’s (inter)national sociopolitical context in the 20th and 21st centuries first halves to, then, analyse the promotional material of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups (i.e. posters, ceremonies and so on). Such analysis is focused on the (re)creation of Brazilian identity through the games as well as the role of regional cultures in this process.

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Notes

1. The Russel’s beach, previously known as Dom Pedro Primeiro beach, ceased to exist in the 1960s as a result of Aterro do Flamengo’s construction in the 1960s.

2. Translated by Oliven 2006, 305–306.

3. The city of Rio de Janeiro bid to host the 1936 Summer Olympics.

4. Translated by Williams 2001, 197.

5. All translations from Portuguese were made by the author, unless stated otherwise.

6. Braziliana, a neologism derived from the word Americana, would refer to materials relating to Brazilian history, folklore, flora and so on, considered to be typical of Brazilian culture.

7. It is not the first time that the slogan of a FIFA World Cup has two slightly different meanings, one in English and another in the host nation’s language. The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany had as its English slogan ‘A time to make friends’, whereas its German version was ‘Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden’, which means ‘the world as a guest with friends’.

8. The closing ceremony lasted 17 min and 58 s, whereas the opening one lasted 21 min and 28 s.