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Title:CAPOEIRA: CONCEPTUALIZATION AND PRESENTATION OF THE BODY
Authors:ID Stolnik, Urška (Author)
Files:.pdf Urska_Stolnik.pdf (4,71 MB)
MD5: 63C7A0CA7F67F61AC54A90676D9AE726
 
Language:English
Work type:Dissertation
Typology:2.08 - Doctoral Dissertation
Organization:FPŠ - Graduate School
Abstract:This thesis is the result of twenty-one months of fieldwork among the capoeiristas in Brazil, primarily in the city of Salvador, between 2003 and 2013. Combining historical accounts with the experiences of the present, the work focuses on changes in the social perception of body and mind in both capoeira and wider society. The intricacies of society and the politics of a particular epoch are clearly reflected in this Brazilian national game: sometimes in terms of incorporation or acceptance of specific social hierarchies, and other times of exclusion or rejection of them. A tension between the black and white worlds is constantly present, as it is between the male and female ones. Even when these separate realms in different historical eras of capoeira seem to come closer, they become separated again through new forms of institutionalization. Perceived sometimes as a martial art or dance, sometimes as a game, and yet other times as a sport through which one can gain health and beauty, capoeira evades a firm and permanent definition. Such evasion resembles capoeira’s three main, cunning characteristics: malandragem (trickery), malícia (deception) and mandinga (seduction). Cunningness, as a tactic to overplay the opponent, is a means of intentional opening and closing of the body in the game. Although opening and closing might seem exclusive, they are, on the contrary, very much inseparable. They coexist in symbiosis not just at the level of a capoeirista playing the game, but also at the level of roda, academia, a capoeira group or school, at the level of capoeira as a practice, and finally, at the level of wider Brazilian society. All of these bodies are striving to be fechado (closed) and secure, but cannot accomplish that before opening themselves first. Being dexterous in the simultaneous alternation of opening and closing one’s own body is a skill that can be learnt through a long-term and continually engendered process of practice, experiences and interaction with others and the environment at large. That skill, associated with the capoeirista’s awareness of vi constant vulnerability, is closely related to learning the specific way of perceiving and responding. The capoeirista cultivates and embodies capoeiristic habitus, which emphasizes the necessity of being permanently attentive to several things at once. This is possible when all senses work together in synthesis. At that time, the capoeirista uses peripheral sight and is aware of peripheral sounds. The skill of heightened sensitivity and keen perception enables the capoeirista to negotiate between the opening and closing of his body. Opening and closing the body at the right time and taking the advantages of an unstable situation in roda can be accomplished only by simultaneous thinking and performing, which is the outcome of the incorporation of capoeira movements. The socio-economic situation of Brazilian society based on racial and gender discrimination enhances the cultivation of capoeiristic habitus and dictates the need for the acquisition of capoeiristic skills and attitudes in order to cope with, understand, and live within an unequal world. Capoeiristic habitus can also be learnt and acquired as a by-product of capoeira training. But it remains important whether the environment in which a capoeirista practises tolerates or inhibits the cultivation of capoeiristic skills.
Keywords:capoeira, body and mind, game, sport, movement, opened and closed society, perception, historical changes, Salvador, Brazil
Place of publishing:Nova Gorica
Year of publishing:2015
PID:20.500.12556/RUNG-2049 New window
COBISS.SI-ID:4121595 New window
NUK URN:URN:SI:UNG:REP:1W1KYOLT
Publication date in RUNG:22.01.2016
Views:5874
Downloads:310
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Secondary language

Language:Slovenian
Title:KONCEPTUALIZACIJA IN PREZENTACIJA TELESA PRI CAPOEIRI
Abstract:Pričujoča doktorska disertacija je rezultat enaindvajsetmesečnega terenskega dela med capoeiristi v Braziliji, predvsem v mestu Salvador, med letoma 2003 in 2013. Ob upoštevanju zgodovinskih podatkov in izkušenj v tem obdobju se to delo osredotoča na spremembe v družbeni zaznavi telesa in uma tako v capoeiri kot v širši družbi. Kompleksnost družbe in politika določenega obdobja se jasno odražata v tej brazilski nacionalni igri: včasih v smislu ponotranjenja in sprejetja določenih družbenih hierarhij in včasih v smislu njihove izključitve ali zavrnitve. Napetost med temnopoltimi in svetlopoltimi je stalno prisotna, kar velja tudi za napetost med moškimi in ženskami. Tudi ko se zdi, da se te različne realnosti v določenih zgodovinskih obdobjih zbližujejo, se pravzaprav preko novih oblik institucionalizacije ponovno oddaljijo. Včasih je capoeira zaznana kot borilna veščina ali ples, drugič kot igra, tretjič kot šport za doseganje zdravja in lepote; tako se izmika trdni in stalni opredelitvi. To izmikanje spominja na prebrisanost capoeire, ki se odraža v njenih treh glavnih značilnostih: malandragem (zvijačnost), malícia (prevara) in mandinga (zapeljevanje). V igri capoeire je prebrisanost taktika za preigravanje nasprotnika in način namernega odpiranja in zapiranja telesa. Čeprav se zdi, da se tovrstno odpiranje in zapiranje izključujeta, sta pravzaprav nerazdružljiva. Obstajata v simbiozi ne zgolj na ravni capoeirista med igro, ampak tudi na ravni rode, akademije, capoeiristične skupine ali šole, na ravni capoeire kot prakse, in navsezadnje v širši brazilski družbi. Vsa ta telesa težijo k temu, da bi bila zaprta (fechado) in varna, ampak tega ne morejo doseči, če se najprej ne odprejo. Spretnost hkratnega izmenjavanja odpiranja in zapiranja lastnega telesa je sposobnost, ki se jo tisti, ki capoeiro vadi, lahko priuči tekom procesa dolgoročne in kontinuirane prakse, izkušenj ter interakcije z drugimi in širšim okoljem. Ta sposobnost, skupaj s capoeiristovim zavedanjem stalne ranljivosti, je tesno povezana z učenjem specifičnega načina zaznavanja in odzivanja. Capoerist razvije in utelesi capoeiristični habitus, ki poudarja nujnost stalne viii pozornosti na več stvari hkrati. To je možno doseči, ko vsa čutila delujejo skupaj v simbiozi. Takrat capoeirist uporablja periferni vid in se zaveda perifernih zvokov. Sposobnost povečane občutljivosti in ostre zaznave capoeiristu omogoča, da se pogaja z odpiranjem in zapiranjem svojega telesa. Odpiranje in zapiranje telesa ob pravem času in izkoriščanje prednosti v nestabilnih okoliščinah rode sta izvedljiva zgolj s hkratnim razmišljanjem in izvajanjem, kar je posledica ponotranjenja capoeirističnega gibanja. Družbenoekonomska situacija brazilske družbe, ki temelji na rasni in spolni diskriminaciji, pospešuje razvoj capoeirističnega habitusa in narekuje potrebo po pridobitvi capoeirističnih spretnosti in stališč z namenom lažjega soočanja z izzivi, razumevanja in življenja znotraj neenakega sveta. Capoeiristični habitus je lahko tudi priučen in pridobljen kot stranski produkt treniranja capoeire. Ob tem ostaja pomembno, če okolje, v katerem capoeirist vadi, spodbuja ali zavira razvoj capoeirističnih spretnosti.
Keywords:capoeira, telo in um, igra, šport, gibanje, odprta in zaprta družba, zaznavanje, zgodovinske spremembe, Salvador, Brazilija


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