Blessed Beats: Religious Profanation and Evangelical Syncretization from Samba to Carnaval Gospel

Abstract

This article examines Evangelical carnaval in Brazil to argue that anthropological writing on syncretization expresses a theoretical gap or shortcoming. In several large Brazilian cities, Evangelicals are currently organizing carnaval parades and performing samba music with percussion instruments. Many Evangelical adherents regard samba as spiritually hazardous because the music genre is perceived to hold Afro-Brazilian religious force. Such an appraisal barred fusions between proselytization and samba in the past, but Evangelical carnaval performers offer a new mode of syncretization that produces fusions previously deemed impossible. This article argues that this mode can be described as Evangelical syncretization and that such mergers are characterized by religious profanation. Participants in Evangelical carnaval codify samba as “cultural” and argue that no music genre is intrinsically malevolent. This semiotic ideology, in combination with a proselytization technique called estratégia, makes possible Evangelical participation in patrimonial practices associated with Afro-Brazilian religion and allows Evangelicals to employ cultural phenomena as missionary armaments.