ABSTRACT
In a 1994 documentary video, I watched the artistic career of a fado singer based in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In it, one detail is striking: clinging to an ear of corn, in the middle of a cornfield located in northern Portugal, the fado singer Maria Alcina (1939–) sings and gives thanks for the tribute and for the recognition of her homeland, the concelho (county) of Castro Daire, thus symbolizing the union of the Portuguese immigrant with the land that provided seeds, although the fruits have been harvested in another country, specifically in Brazil. The above video is titled “Distinguished Portuguese in Brazil” and is available on DVD (a reproduction of the original on VHS, Malta Editora, 1994).
