ABSTRACT
The lyrics of Ari Barroso’s sambas written in the early 1930s are characterized by unadorned, spoken-language forms, a limited lexical range and easy rhymes. Ari Barroso is widely credited with having invented, or at least made his own, the sub-genre of samba known as samba-exaltacao, with his idealized depictions of ‘meu Brasil brasileiro’. Romantic turns of phrase and scholarly discourse constitute an important facet of Ari’s linguistic conservatism. Ari’s use of imagery is at its most powerful, however, when he moves away from the constraints of poetic convention and, instead, looks to everyday experience for his inspiration. Like the omnipresent moonlight in the song, Ari casts a flattering glow on his Brazil. Ari’s eulogies of black Brazil are full of references to the mulatto, who is venerated as the quintessential Brazilian, the epitome of brasilidade, an embodiment of the nation’s glorious colonial.
