Muzyka bez granic

Portugalskie fado w przestrzeni międzykulturowej

Abstract

Music without Borders: Portuguese Fado in a Multicultural Space

In 2011 fado was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, but much before it started to function as a Portugal’s music trade mark. Fado lovers believe that it is a reflection of the Portuguese soul. The genre can be traced to the 19th century’s poor districts of Lisbon (Alfama, Mouraria), however some ethnomusicologists increasingly emphasize its earlier African‑Brazilian origins. For more than two hundred years of its existence, fado passed through different phases of development, reaching diverse public, first in Portugal and then abroad. In times of the dictatorship Antonio Salazar’s regime tried to influence fado by introducing censorship and specifying rigid rules of performance. The aim of this article is to show the evolution of the Portuguese fado and its modern interpretations, resulting from the fusion of this genre with other forms, such as bossa nova, jazz, folk, pop, or tango. This blurring and softening of the music boundaries is illustrated with the example of surprising connections between fado and Angolan, Capeverdean, Andalusian, Brazilian or Jewish music. The principal argument of the article is the idea that nowadays fado exceeds many borders: the limits of social groups, cultural and ethnic areas, countries and music genres.