美国国家公共电台 NPR How Politics Is Affecting Musicians From Brazil And Venezuela

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Two South American countries have been in the news a lot lately. Venezuela's economy has collapsed¹ in a political crisis. And in Brazil, a new far-right president has made racist² comments. And he's accused of stoking anti-gay violence. For artists in both those countries, the news is affecting their work. At the South by Southwest music festival in Austin this week, NPR's Felix Contreras and Christina Cala sat down to talk about artists from both countries. Felix is host of NPR Music's Alt.Latino podcast. Christina is a producer here on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. They started with Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro.

CHRISTINA CALA, BYLINE³: He's been quoted saying some really threatening things about indigenous⁴ and black populations there. Are any of the musicians that are going to be performing from either of those communities?

FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: Almost all of them.

CALA: Wow.

CONTRERAS: And that's exactly what Luedji Luna told me. She's an Afro-Brazilian performer. And while sitting in the Austin Convention Center in-between gigs, she told me that she expected this conservative backlash after a period of more liberal policies in her country. And I asked her if she had any reservations about speaking up through her music about what's going on right now.

LUEDJI LUNA: I know where I come from. And I know my heritage. I know that it's not my afraid. It's they are afraid of me, of my power, of our power.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UM CORPO NO MUNDO")

LUNA: (Singing in Spanish).

CALA: She seems pretty outspoken⁵. Is that a dangerous thing for her to be?

CONTRERAS: Well, you know, she and so many other performers who do speak up in Brazil are part of a long legacy⁷ of musicians speaking truth to power, during the military dictatorship there in the 1960s, there was an entire genre⁸ of music that developed around these musicians. It's called tropicalia. And many of those musicians are now revered⁹ elders of Brazilian music - Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal¹⁰ Costa. Those are just a few names from that movement back then.

CALA: Brazilian music history 101 with Professor Felix right here. How does that history sort of play into her motivation to speak up?

CONTRERAS: That and the attitude that she considers it a responsibility, almost a sacred responsibility, to speak up for those who are being subjected to unfair treatment of all kinds.

LUNA: My existence is really representative in my country, you know, for younger girls, young black girls. So I won't be afraid. I can't be, actually.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UM CORPO NO MUNDO")

LUNA: (Singing in Spanish).

CALA: Another country that we have in the news today a lot is Venezuela. That is under the administration of Nicolas Maduro. A lot of people are fleeing that country, millions. Are there any people from Venezuela here performing?

CONTRERAS: As far as I can tell, there's only one - the vocalist named Lolita De Sola. And here's a track from her recent album.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOTO")

LOLITA DE SOLA: (Singing in Spanish).

CALA: What about the other bands that were scheduled maybe to come from Venezuela and haven't been able to?

CONTRERAS: I spoke⁶ with Alicia Zertuche. She is the South by Southwest senior programmer who's in charge of booking all of the bands from Latin America. And she had what she called a very heartbreaking e-mail exchange with a band in Venezuela who told her they couldn't make it this year.

ALICIA ZERTUCHE: There's a band named Desorden Publico. And they're an iconic ska band from Venezuela with a very, very strong following. He described it, we're living almost a war situation. You know, I think it's unfair for us to go and participate at this event. It's not because we can't leave the country. We are afraid to leave our families behind.

CALA: Let's get a taste of what we're missing from this band.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DONDE ESTA EL FUTRUO?")

DESORDEN PUBLICO: (Singing in Spanish).

CALA: Any lessons we can take from the bands that are here and the bands that aren't who are dealing¹¹ with these pretty grave situations?

CONTRERAS: You know, I think it's a reminder¹² to all musicians to appreciate their own circumstance that allows them to freely express themselves in their music because that kind of thing is not always given.

CALA: Thanks, Felix.

CONTRERAS: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DONDE ESTA EL FUTURO?")

DESORDEN PUBLICO: (Singing in Spanish).

SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Christina Cala in conversation with Felix Contreras, host of NPR Music's Alt.Latino podcast. They spoke at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DONDE ESTA EL FUTURO?")

DESORDEN PUBLICO: (Singing in Spanish).

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

8 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

9 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

10 gal   

n.姑娘，少女

参考例句：

• We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
• What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么？

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。