Black Orpheus and the Globalization of Afro-Brazilian Culture

Black Orpheus and the Globalization of Afro-Brazilian Culture is the first historical study in English to examine the development, production, and reception of the 1958 film Black Orpheus and its legacy in the 1960s and 1970s. It focuses on the making of the film and the trajectories of the major actors and musicians who helped construct and image of Black Brazil and provides an analysis of the globalization of Afro-Brazilian images and music in France and the United States in the wake of the movie’s success. Using archival sources, interviews, and the secondary literature from France, Brazil and the United States, this book reveals information about the cultural histories of all three countries and gives readers new insight into the trajectories of diverse actors such as Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn and Leea Garcia and performers such as Agostinho dos Santos, Baden Powell and Maria D’Apparecida.

DAIRÉN J. DAVIS is a professor and the chair of Africana studies at Rutgers University–Newark. He is the author of four books, three edited volumes, and more than 40 essays and articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese.