Authoritarianism and popular song in Brazil

relations among history, censorship, and song lyrics during the civil–military dictatorship (1964–1985)

Abstract

This study analyzes the relationships between authoritarianism, history, censorship, and popular song in Brazil during the Civil-Military Dictatorship (1964–1985), understanding music as a discursive, pedagogical, and political practice in contexts of exception. It is based on the assumption that, during this period, popular song constituted a privileged space of symbolic dispute, challenging the regime’s hegemonic discourse through linguistic strategies employed to circumvent institutionalized censorship. Drawing on historiography, cultural criticism, and studies of language and popular music, the article examines mechanisms of repression and surveillance, as well as the forms of resistance developed by composers, with particular emphasis on the so-called language of the in-between (linguagem de fresta) and on the construction of the songwriter as an astute and politically engaged subject. The study demonstrates that, paradoxically, censorship contributed to the aesthetic refinement of popular song and to the strengthening of a culture of resistance, reaffirming the central role of popular music in Brazilian sociopolitical history.