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estudos semióticoshttp://www.revistas.usp.br/esse

issn 1980-4016semestral

julho de 2016vol. 12, n. 1

p. 8-20

Brazilian funk as the herald of a new social order:a semiotic analysis of the internet music video “Beijinho no ombro” and its reception in social media•

Ricardo Nogueira de Castro Monteiro (UFCA)*

Abstract: The present article aims to analyze the music video “Beijinho no ombro” – a major Brazilian social mediaphenomenon that reached more than 9 million Youtube views in 3 months in 2014 –, discussing both the processes bywhich homologies between categories of expression and content are established – the so called Hjelmslev’s “commutations”– and suspended – the Danish linguist’s concept of “syncretism” (Hjelmslev, 2003) – in the audiovisual text, and the effectsof meaning created thereby. The analytical treatment assimilates also some of Éric Landowski’s contributions to thediscussions about the intersubjective interactions regimes (Landowski, 1997, 2006) and their impact on the study of the so-called states of soul deeply developed by Greimas and Fontanille in their Sémiotique des passions (Greimas & Fontanille,1993). The object analysis intends moreover to illustrate a methodological approach proposed by the author and that maybe applied to various corpora regarding the audiovisual repertory. Such an approach, a natural extension of Greimas’treatment of the plane of content and Floch’s developments into the plane of expression (Floch, 1984, 1993), offers as acontribution the proposition of a methodology that, departing from the figures of expression and their homologations andsemi-symbolic relations with categories of content, will then detect their projections in each one of the three levels of thegenerative path. Thus, not only the role of the means of manifestation in the process of generation of effects of meaning canbe better evaluated, but also the possibilities of a generative approach that includes the textual structures – rather than theexplicit exclusion that appears in the Dictionary of semiotics (Greimas & Courtés, 1991:208) – can be further discussed.

Keywords: semiotic analysis; syncretism; semi-symbolism; music video; musical semiotics.

1. PresentationThe present article aims to analyze the music

video “Beijinho no ombro” – a major Brazilian socialmedia phenomenon that reached more than 9million Youtube views in 3 months in 2014 –,discussing both the processes by which homologiesbetween categories of expression and content areestablished – the so called Hjelmslev’s“commutations” – and suspended – the Danishlinguist’s concept of “syncretism” (Hjelmslev, 2003) –in the audiovisual text, and the effects of meaningcreated thereby. Thus, inspired by the semioticstudies on syncretism developed in theSociossemiotics Research Center (in Portuguese,CPS: Centro de Pesquisas Sociossemióticas) directedby Éric Landowski and Ana Claudia de Oliveira, thisanalysis assimilates some of Landowski’scontributions to the discussions about theintersubjective interactions regimes (Landowski,1997, 2006) and their impact on the study of the so-called states of soul deeply developed by Greimasand Fontanille in their Sémiotique des passions(Greimas & Fontanille, 1993). Departing fromconsiderations about the figures of expression andtheir homologation and/or semi-symbolic relations

with respect to the categories of content, theanalysis follows the greimasian concept of generativepath, adopting its classical approach that conceivesthe hierarchic subdivision of the plane of contentfrom the more specific and superficial to the deeperand more general categories organized in thediscursive, narrative and fundamental levels(Greimas & Courtés, 1991).

As far as the musical approach is concerned, atleast two main references should be highlighted: theauthor’s more than 10 years long affiliation to theMusical Signification Project led by Eero Tarasti(Tarasti, 1994, 1995), and the formative years underthe guidance of Luiz Tatit and his outstandingstudies on song semiotics, that incorporate some ofthe contributions of Claude Zilberberg to the studyof tensivity and its role in the process of productionof meaning (Tatit, 1994).

The choice of the object of this analysis was madeaiming to contribute to the discussions regarding theanalysis of syncretic texts in general, and morespecifically to the semiotic studies on music andperformance – in this case presented in anaudiovisual support that allows to raise questionsalso about the effects of meaning produced in acontext that includes dance, acting, filming, TV and

• DOI: 10.11606/issn.1980-4016.esse.2016.120532* Docente do curso de Licenciatura em Música da Universidade Federal do Cariri - UFCA. Consultor para a Área de Semiótica da NCMonteiro Consultoria, Assessoria e Participações. Endereço de e-mail: castromonteiro@gmail.com

estudos semióticos – vol. 12, n. 1 – julho de 2016

has internet as its main broadcasting channel. Themusic video “Beijinho no ombro” combines all theseelements in a quite rich and complex context: ashort singing film with a massive audience ininternet later widely broadcast by TV that presentsdance as one of its main components and that treatsthe song lyrics as a somewhat enraged monologue tobe staged by means of its quite peculiar mis-en-scène. At the same time, the object analysis intendsto illustrate a methodological approach proposed bythe author and that may be applied to variouscorpora regarding the audiovisual repertory. Suchan approach, a natural extension of Greimas’treatment of the plane of content and Floch’sdevelopments into the plane of expression (Floch,1984, 1993), offers as a contribution the propositionof a methodology that, departing from the figures ofexpression and their homologations and semi-symbolic relations with categories of content, willthen detect their projections in each one of the threelevels of the generative path. Thus, not only the roleof the means of manifestation in the process ofgeneration of effects of meaning can be betterevaluated, but also the possibilities of a generativeapproach that includes – rather than the explicitexclusion that appears in the Dictionary of semiotics(Greimas & Courtés, 1991:208) – the textualstructures can be further discussed.

Finally, some important discussions regardingthe relations between text and context are invokedhere by means of Lotman’s legacy as systematized byLaura Gherlone in her 2014 book Dopo Dopo lasemiosfera [After the Semiosphere]. The presentarticle proposes a bridge between the greimasianand the lotmanian semiotic perspectives mediated byLandowski’s sociossemiotics, extending thus theanalysis of the text to an evaluation of its meaningand significance in the semiosphere as a whole, aswill be clarified in the following sections.

2. About the CorpusThe object of analysis of the present article is a

music video1 released on Youtube on December 27th,2013, reaching about 700.000 views in just two daysof exposition. The video displays Brazilian singerValesca Popozuda (which might be freely translatedby “Valesca, the Callipygeous”), a pop musicperformer associated with the Brazilian funk scene,in a 4’11” performance of the song “Beijinho noombro” – whose title might be translated as “agoodbye kiss through my shoulder”, an expressionrelated in Brazilian contemporary culture to gettingrid of someone one looks down on and with aconnotation of contempt. The video, filmed in theItaipava Castle – a reproduction of an EuropeanRenaissance castle built in Rio de Janeiro in the

1 Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPpo9OYKZq0. Acessed at January 2nd, 2014.

early 20th century –, has a musical introduction ofabout one minute, and after that Valesca performsthe whole composition twice, most of the timeaccompanied by an ensemble of male and femaledancers. The introduction, with a somewhat epiccharacter and always under a dark blue light,displays in its first half external takes from thecastle, and in the second half a group of peopledressed as medieval monks slowing walking towardsValesca and, lined up in front of her, uncoveringtheir heads and thus showing the faces of the youngmale and female dancers. In the first chorus,Valesca is most of the time dressing a tight red dresswith a mini skirt and leading a ballet where alldancers wear shorts, the men with their breastsundressed and the women with sleeveless goldenblouses. Finally, she opens the last chorus singingseated on a large throne dressed with a white bikini,jewels and a large white winter skin hood coveringher head, accompanied by a hawk perched on herthrone and a tiger lying by her feet. A more detaileddescription of the scene and the music, as much asa discussion about their meaning in Braziliancontemporary culture, will be exposed in thefollowing sections.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that the briefdescription above reveals already one of the mainphenomena to be study here: the commutations. Thedivision in sections as mentioned here display someisomorphic aspects of the plane of expression in itsvisual and musical instances of substance. Thus,the musical introduction, characterized by adifferent tonality and harmonic sequence than thefollowing two choruses, is homologous to a specificluminosity in dark blue; in the first chorus, Valescaappears most of the time with her red princessclothing, whereas the incidence of the second choruscorresponds visually to the appearance of her whiteclothing. Among the various homologations that canbe detected with respect to categories of content, onecan easily indicate the actorial and spatial shiftingouts: in the introduction, the “monks” in anambiance that appears to be a monastery; in thefirst chorus, Valesca with the whole ensemble ofactors in the Renaissance-like halls of the castle;and finally, in the second chorus, Valesca sitting ona throne accompanied by the hawk and the tigeragainst a completely white homogeneous andshadowless background.

It is useful – not to say necessary as far as astrictly lotmanian approach would be concerned – tocontextualize the object in Brazilian contemporarypopular culture, where funk plays a quite distinctrole. A first important point to note is that the so-called funk gender that has in fact succeeded toreadapt its roots to the Brazilian soil has very littleresemblance with James Brown’s 1960s works, oreven with the 1990s Prince’s style. It was the Miami-

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Bass subgenre that has found resonance in Brazil, anatural consequence of the position occupied byFlorida’s capital in the last decade of the 20th

century as a preferential travel destination to theBrazilian bourgeoisie. Paradoxically, it was not inBrazilian higher social milieus that funk has foundits original nestle, but rather in the outskirts of Riode Janeiro and its “favelas” [slums], where adispossessed working class lives, quite often lessunder the jurisdiction of the State than under thelaws dictated by powerful local drug dealers. In thisparticular environment, “funk carioca” blossomeddistantly from James Brown’s references – and evenmore of the refined poetical standards of nationalpopular music in the 1960s and 1970s. Developingits poetic thematic as a local version of the so-called“dirty rap”, with its constant appeal to sexualviolence and pornography, and to the “gangsta rap”,celebrating the day-by-day struggle of criminals ascontemporary rebels, the funk carioca quicklyevolved to a gender in which one could easily collectpanegyrics celebrating criminals as modern versionsof Robin Hood or enraged pamphlets portrayingthem as victims of an outrageously unfair andcorrupted society. Another point of interest is thatthe ascension of the popularity of funk carioca tookplace pari passu with the vertiginous ascension ofthe basis of the Brazilian social pyramid since the1990s, and that represented one of the mostimpressive and significant social changes in thecountry’s history. An esthetic phenomenon that canbe seen as directly related to that silent revolution isthe surge of the so-called “funk ostentação”[ostentation funk], a subgenre that flourished in thelate 2000s praising consume and the pleasure ofdisplaying signs of economic power – somewhat asan exaggerated representation of the growingeconomic power of Brazilian lower classes.

Although the song “Beijinho no ombro” cannot befairly classified as a funk ostentação, there is nodoubt that the imagery of the video is deeplyinfluenced by its Weltanschauung. The sumptuosityof the Itaipava Castle, her characterization first as aHigh Priestess, than as a Princess and finally seatedas a Queen on her throne, all reinforces herrepresentation in a superior hierarchic rank withrespect to the other characters of the film – a statusreinforced by her role as the protagonist of thechoreographic design, by the contrast in color andshape between hers and the other dancers’ costumesand by her positioning always in a frontal or higherplan with respect to the chorus. Such displays ofeconomic and social power, a quintessential featureof the ostentação, add up to a song whose lyricspresent a proud, arrogant and empoweredenunciator scorning her rivals with widespreadsarcasm. Far from the triumphal but sociallyconciliatory views of 1990s’ national genres such asthe Axé, “Beijinho no ombro”, with now more than

30 million views only in its original edition (let alonethe dozens of unofficial versions and hundreds ofcopies in youtube), transpires social resentment anda lust for revenge inebriated by the wine of cynicism.“I wish all my enemies a long life – so that they canwitness every single day our victory upon them”,sings the diva dressed as a princess and escorted byher chorus of androgynous dancers originallydressed as monks. The singer, applying to her vocaltimbre and verbal expression elements thatimmediately relate her to the lower class stereotypesof the cachorras [bitches] – the bas-fond dancingqueens of the funk balls –, establishes herempowered social identity as the quintessence ofthis vertiginous social ascension that is even todaypart of the nightmares of the most conservativenational bourgeoisie. Seated on her throne – almosta monument to the Bauhaus concept of “kitsch”–with a tiger resting by her feet, the singer thatarrogantly addresses her enemies advising them to“bark louder, for you cannot be well heard from theheights” intones her chant to her envious addresseesas if she were the herald of a new social order,announcing accompanied by a set of androgynousmale dancers a new paradigm where longestablished social frontiers based upon economicpower and gender identities collapse – not for thesake of a renewed society without its old barriers,but to found a new world where the former roles ofoppressors and oppressed may have been at leastpartially reversed.

The semiotic analysis of the music video“Beijinho no ombro” and a careful study of thehomologies between categories of content andexpression – here represented by visual and/orsound categories – established and/or suspendedthroughout the film will not only help to identify therhetoric tools that compound the stylistic traces ofthe syncretic text, but also provide more elements todiscuss the role of the social allusions suggested bythe film both in the syncretic text and in its contextin the semiosphere, allowing an evaluation in depthof the symbolic effectiveness of a social mediaphenomenon that apparently was bound to be nomore than an ephemeral commercial hit – andnonetheless seems to have far transcended such acategory.

3. AnalysisA first point to note in the present approach to

the figures of expression in the syncretic audiovisualtext is the semiotization of some of Syd Field’s andChristian Vogler’s propositions about the structureof the hollywoodian film (Field, 1982 and Vogler,2007). Field’s remarks on the timing of the two so-called “turning points” of the film narrative, that heidentifies approximately at 25% and 75% of the filmduration, can be understood as the semi-symbolic

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relation between a category of expression, which isthe organization of the time length of a movie, and acategory of content, which corresponds here to aparadigm of narrative programs more fully examinedand detailed by Vogler. Although “Beijinho noombro” does not possess such a sophisticatednarrative structure as the Hollywood productionsdiscussed by Vogler, Field’s functional mapping ofthe film chronology does prove to be particularlyproductive as an initial strategy to investigate thefigures of expression in the audiovisual text. Thus,in the 4’11” film, a very clear formal structureorganizes it in approximately four sections – or four“Acts”, to remain faithful to Field’s originalterminology. Act 1 corresponds to what is treatedhere as Section 1, and is further discussed in thenext item. Act 2.1 corresponds to the OrganIntroduction plus Part A and Part B from the firstChorus, starting at 60” and finishing at the GrandPause at 2’09” – just 11” longer than the previoussegment, and matching in a quite fair way Vogler’sconcept of the “Abyss” that he previews to beapproximately in the middle of the film. From 2’10”to 3’22”, therefore with roughly the same extensionas Act 2.1, Act 2.2 covers the Refrain of the firstChorus and Parts A and B of the second Chorus,finishing at the second Grand Pause – once more areasonable approximation to Field’s “second turningpoint” and to Vogler’s “Road Back”, bothcorresponding to circa ¾ of the film. Finally, Act 3stretches from the extended Refrain to the Coda ofthe second Chorus, starting at 3’23” and finishingwith the film at 4’11”. Let us examine now thestructure of Section 1 and the whole first Chorus,that corresponds to the Section 2 and is constitutedby an Organ Introduction, Part A, Part B and aRefrain. Some comments about the second Choruswill be diluted throughout the following items, inorder to cover the film as a whole.

3.1 Section 1: IntroductionThe first and perhaps also the most clearly and

emblematically distinguished part in the film,corresponding with exactitude to the previouslymentioned introductory section, extends itself fromthe very beginning to 59” of the movie, thuscorresponding to its first quarter, and presentsvisual and musical features that stronglyparticularize it with respect to the following sections.In its first 4 bars sequence, each one of the 4/4 barswith a pedal in D (the tonic, or center of tonality) ishomologated with a verbo-visual element: “A MapStyle Entertainment Film”; “Pardal ProduçõesProdução Executiva”; the logo VP; and the words“Valesca Popozuda (Valesca, the Callipygous) –Beijinho no Ombro”, that take place with anascending brass melody. Interdiscursivityestablishes an immediate reference with the imagery

of classic cinema overtures by means of agrandiloquent sampled orchestration emulating astrings section with an octave pedal on the low D(the tonic) and a spiccato ostinato followed in thenext bars by horns, timpani and ultimately joined bya choir. Such a reference to Hollywood overtureswith an epic flavor are emphasized here by theisomorphy and consequent commutation betweenthe musical and visual figures of expression thatstructure the syncretic text. The exact incidence ofthe titles at the right beginning of each one of the 4initial measures makes the traditional orchestralscore a most fitting representation for thecommutations between musical and visual figures ofexpression (see Figure 1).

The music score makes more evident anotherimportant phenomenon in the analysis of the effectsof meaning: the gradation, understood here also as arhetoric tool, corresponding to the gradualintensification of the sound mass by means of theaddition of instrumental parts. Thus, the end of thesequence of titles, with the entrance of the choir andthe melodic figure in the musical instance and theappearance of the Itaipava Castle in a contre-plongétraveling shot in the visual instance represents afirst climax careful built in order to present thecastle as a descriptive value associated with themodality of power and with cursive and openingmodulations. According to Greimas and Fontanille intheir Semiotics of Passions,

in the absence of direct or indirectmanifestation of the modalities, theobservation of the prevailing aspectualchoices allows to postulate the existence ofthis or that modulation in the fundamentallevel, that would have been primarilyconvoked to the discourse; supposing thismodulation as dominant, it is possible toinfer and foresee that a modal organization,in case there is one in immanence, shouldbe thereby affected or oriented (Greimas &Fontanille, 1993:36-37).

Thus, it is possible to infer that the cursive andopening modulations will respectively contribute tothe effects of meaning of actualization andvirtualization in the narrative semantics level(Greimas & Fontanille, 1993:37), therebycontributing to enhance the already mentioned effectof grandiloquence (by the association between theactualization and the effect of meaning ofempowerment) and to the instauration of the Castleas an object of value in the film imagery.

Before going ahead to the next 4 bars sequence,it is interesting to briefly observe some of thefeatures of the VP logo mentioned above. The choiceof the letters VP allows interdiscursive relations withtwo other abbreviations, both worldwide signs ofprestige: VP standing as Vice-President (a commonusage in the corporate world) and the even more

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famous V.I.P. – Very Important People. This primecharacter is emphasized by the chromatic contrastbetween the VP letters in gold – with its obviousconnotation of financial power – and its darkest,almost black hue that composes the background,connoting formality. Quite more original is the usageof form in the letters V and P, with curvilinear tracesthat, besides an association with femininity,reinforced by the mark of lipstick drawn inside theV, delineate other shapes like a heart – whichreinforces the affective seme related to it – and alsosuggest an iconic representation of the callipygeousattributes that compound the singer’s identity andtrademark. Taking all this into account, it isimportant to note that the incidence of the logotakes place as the climax of an intensificationprogression in the musical instance of substancethat will culminate with the appearance of the firstmelodic element – a progression concomitant andhomologous to the process of individuation thatreaches its first defining stage, after a path drivingfrom the more generic to the more specific in 4steps: 1) the enterprise that produced the film; 2) theartist’s producers; 3) the artist’s plastic logo; andfinally, the artist logo with the emergence of hername.

The following sequence of 4 bars determines theappearance of the first melodic phrase and harmonicsequence, and partially maintains the isomorphichomologation between musical and visual figures ofexpression, whereas witnesses the first morerelevant homologations between categories ofexpression and content – the so-called semi-symbolic relations. Thus, despite the constantpresence of categories of content that can behomologized with figures of expression, thissequence marks the instauration of the semi-symbolic relations that in fact give a start to themain narrative path.

So, the first melodic phrase takes place duringthe traveling shot in contre-plongé towards thecastle. Here, the harmonic functions start to play animportant role as figures of expression withhomologations with categories of content, followingthe traditional approach that relates the tonicfunctions with distress and tension resolution, thedominant with tension and the subdominant withexpansion and distancing (Schoenberg 1969, 1978and Koellreutter 1980). Thus, the evolution of thetraveling in bars 5-6 is homologous to the harmonicshift from the tonic to the parallel subdominant,coherently with the musical effect of distancing fromthe previous tonal center alluded by Koellreutter. Inthe third bar, the appearance of the monks issimultaneous with the parallel tonic chord, with itseffect of establishing a new locus marked by theatmosphere of a medieval monastery populated bystill non-individuated marching characters. Theeighth bar and its dominant chord finally suspend

the isomorphic commutation between visual andmusical categories (in a more clear way than in bars5-6), thereby creating the first important syncretismin the text. This syncretism has two main functions:generating an effect of continuity despite the quickalternation of cut camera shots from lateral andfrontal perspectives and to change the focus of thehomologies from the plane of expression to the planeof content. The validity of its suspension pervadesthe following musical phrase, and no visual orcontent category will reinforce the harmonic andorchestral changes that mark its arrival. Even so,the subdominant and its distancing effect marks inbar 10 the appearance of Valesca’s by a shot takenfrom behind her nape, and finally, in the twelfth barthe tension of the suspended dominant of theparallel tonic is homologous to the stopping of themonks in front of the protagonist (shot in profile),the only with an uncovered head, posed on asuperior plan with respect to the monks anddressing a fur rather than a habit. Hence, besidesone more step in the process of individuationreferred before – with the appearance of theprotagonist and her distinguished features –, aninteresting point is that the tension of the dominantchord is homologous to the ceasing of the movementof the monks, which precisely corresponds to thetensive role assumed by that harmonic function in achord progression (Schoenberg, 1969, 1978)convoked to the audiovisual discourse. So, oncemore the music score, now by means of its harmonicfunctions, works as a consistent guide to the mainhomologies of the syncretic text (see Figure 2).

The next 4 bars will correspond to the end of theintroductory section. The prevailing commutationthat takes place here regards the relations betweenthe choreography and the music, homologizingvisual and musical figures of expression with eachother and with categories of content. Bar 13 breaksthe rhythmic regularity with a single ¾ timesignature in a composition where all other bars arein 4/4, but neither this nor the suspension of themelody presents any major implication except for anelegant and subtle touch of modernity in the music.Meanwhile, it is interesting to note how the absenceof the melody and its role in the process ofindividualization is ultimately compensated by thevisual choreographic figures of expression, like thehomologation of the minor tonic chord in bar 13with the monks’ gesture of uncovering their heads,thereby revealing their faces and consequently evenmoving a step further in terms of identity definition.The harmonic function of distancing in bar 14 ishomologous to the movement of the hands of thedancers sliding down along their chests, and theparallel tonic in 15 – in a parallel procedure withrespect to what happened during the incidence ofthe tonic itself two bars before – will witness thedancers opening their habits until finally undress

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them during the tension of the dominant chord onbar 16. The resolution of the harmonic tension inthe low D pedal in bar 17 will correspond to thefrontal close up shot into Valesca’s face in the rightmoment in which she opens up her eyes, ending upthe process of individuation with her instauration asthe protagonist of the audiovisual discourse. Oncemore, the music score is a convenient map to followthe commutations that structure that sequence (seeFigure 3).

Summarizing the introductory section as a whole,an opposition between extension and intension inthe fundamental is converted in the narrative level toa program of individualization that will polarize thesyntactic functions of Addresser and Addressee. Theconversion of these narrative functions to thediscursive level will correspond respectively to theopposition between the leading role performed byValesca – also convoking to her the valence ofattraction – and the chorus that spontaneouslysubmits to her authority – thus corresponding toanother valence category, the attracted. Among themain themes, the most important opposition isobviously anonymity x individualization, thatcorresponds to the conversion of the centralnarrative path. Other relevant dichotomies are:hidden x revealed, associated with the previous oneby means of the choreographic component of thesyncretic discourse; asceticism x luxuriance,regarding the dressing as another subsidiarydimension of the discourse; and mobility ximmobility, regarding an effect of meaning that hasplayed an important role on the hierarchization ofthe characters so far. The process ofindividualization will also find relevantcorrespondences in the spatial and temporaldimensions of the discourse, in a path that conductsfrom the exterior to the interior of the castle, andfrom an effect of atemporality to an immersion intothe here and now that ultimately characterizes thetransition from enuncivity to enunciativity – a shiftthat will become particularly more evident in thefollowing section, where the protagonist assumes theenunciation, and consequently the function ofenunciator. As far as the musical figures ofexpression are concerned, as previously exposed, theoppositions above are homologous to the dichotomybetween the stability and relaxation of the tonicchord and the tension of the dominant chord, whichpunctuates the main stages of the individualizationpath – the appearance of Vanessa’s name, themarching monks, their stopping in front of her andfinally their undressing. In terms of the visualfigures of expression, three relevant oppositionsmark the individualization process: the position ofthe camera, from lateral to frontal; its proximity,from long shots to the final close up; and finally, aninteresting polarization takes place contrasting the

generality of the letters to the specificity of Valesca’slogo. Thus, before we start to discuss the secondsection, the following table presents a scheme tobetter understand the opposing categories thatorganize the meaning in the introduction (see Table01).

3.2 Section 2

3.2.1 Organ introductionChristian Vogler associates the beginning of the

II Act – roughly corresponding to one fourth of theduration of the film, according to Field (op. cit.) – towhat he assigns as “the beginning of the journey”,typically marked by the crossing of a threshold(Vogler, op. cit.). Section 2 starts with an abrupt keychange from Dm to Bm, the new tonality beingpresented by an organ ostinato phrase that will beperformed four times before the singing finallybegins. With no regular commutation betweencamera shots and any musical incidents except forthe beginning of each phrase – more a rhythmicalthan a harmonic or melodically motivatedhomologation –, it will be particularly productive toanalyze the initial 25s of this section by means ofthe organ score and its relations to the visual scene(see Figure 04).

Thus, the first phrase corresponds to a long shoton Valesca descending the exquisite woodenstairways of a hall in the Renaissance castle,showing her with a large diadem that seems to be avery big ruby surrounded by brilliants and dressedin a color between pink and red with what resemblesa renaissance princess dress from her waist up, butreveals in its bottom half a short and a light creampantyhose. These descriptive values are intrinsicallyrelated to the modal value of power and itsconversion in the theme of royalty and the whole setof discursive figures related to the costumes andscenography that will build its main isotopies. A bellattack marks the beginning of the second phraseand its subsequent repetitions, and its prevailingcamera positioning is the medium shot, displayingValesca walking towards two guards crossing theirlances to close a passage, creating an effect ofapproximation that gives continuity to the process ofindividualization and to the presentation of Valescaas an object of value. The third phrase momentarilyrestores the commutation between musical andvisual figures of expression, presenting acommutation in which each one of the three initialnotes of the musical phrase corresponds to adifferent camera shot. In a sequence of three closeups, the first two display the face of each one of theimmobile guardians and the last one shows Valescaresolutely walking towards them. Finally, in thebeginning of the fourth phrase, the lances openpassage to the singer in the very moment when the

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bell rings, as in an announcement of her presence.Differently from the previous bars, the camerashoots her now frontally most of the time. Thecommutation between the musical and visualsyntagmatic organizations becomes even morepronounced than in the previous phrase, for in thefirst bar of the phrase the change in camera shotsbecomes periodic, with a shift in the uneven beats: adiagonal close up at beat 1 and a frontal mediumshot at beat 3. This synchronization is intensifiedand accelerated in the following bar, in which animportant event takes place every beat: in the first, abrass attack on E marks the drastic cut from theilluminated Renaissance hall back to a long shot tothe dark ambiance of the monastery and its bluelight (clear/red/princess x dark/blue/priestess),where Valesca has her previous costume andcoiffure and is faced by six dancers, three in eachside; in the second beat, there is a cut to a mediumshot taking her nape and the closest dancers’ faces;in the third beat, a cut leads back to the scene in theRenaissance hall, and a medium shot shows thesinger frontally; at last, the fourth beat will mark thebeginning of the singing.

In these 8 initial bars, the consolidation of theprocess of individuation is set by the generalapproximation of the camera and by its gradualcentralization throughout the repeated organphrases. The occasional usage of slow motion alsopervades the excerpt, a resource that contributes tolend solemnity to Valesca’s walk, but withoutestablishing any kind of regular commutationcomparable to those that will increasingly structurethe last 4 bars. The acceleration and intensificationof the commutations following the rhythmical pulseestablish a rhetoric strategy that appeals to thesensitive rather than to the intelligible, therebycloser to Landowski’s concepts of contagion,programming and adjustment (Landowski, 2006)than to Greimas’ notion of manipulation (Greimas &Courtés, 1991: pp. 269-271). Here, one of its effectsis to indicate the reaching of the zenith of theprocess of individualization by the final instaurationof Valesca as the simulacrum of the enunciator ofthe discourse. Besides, by reestablishing theascendance of the sensitive over the intelligible, italso dismisses any needs of further explanationsabout the reason for the construction of an imageryso foreign in time and space with respect to thereferences of a target/enunciatee as the averageBrazilian audience. Finally, it is important to notethat Vogler’s association of the first main turningplot at approximately ¼ of the film extension withthe “beginning of the journey” and the “crossing ofthe threshold” – an homologation of categories ofexpression and content, and thus a semi-symbolicrelation that Vogler presents as a coercion of genre(Vogler, op. cit.) – proves to be valid here, put in

discourse by the figurativization in which the guardsopen the passage to the singer’s triumphal entrée.

3.2.1 Chorus: Part AThe beginning of the singing is marked by some

subtle but quite revealing gestures of the singer withrespect to the ethos of the song. She raises her chinup while looking down to the camera, and her tenseneck and lips, associated with the gesture of raisingher left elbow while resting her left hand on herwaist, generate an effect of meaning ofaggressiveness and arrogance – a most fitting tone toenunciate the following lyrics:

Desejo a todas inimigas vidalonga

I wish all my enemies a longlife

Pra que elas vejam cada diamais nossa vitória

so that they can witnessevsingle day our victory uponthem

Bateu de frente é só tiro,porrada e bomba

Any offense, and be preparedto shot, crushed and bombed

Aqui dois papos não se cria enem faz história

No doublespeak here. Anddon’t bullshit me, for it won’twork

Acredito em Deus e faço Elede escudo

I believe in God, and the Lordis my shield

Late mais alto que daqui eunão te escuto

Please bark louder, for I can’the you from up here

Do camarote quase não dápra te ver

I can barely see you from theVIP box

Tá rachando a cara, táquerendo aparecer

You’re smashing your ownface trying to show up

Não sou covarde, já tôpronta pro combate

I’m not a coward, and I’mready for the battle

Keep Calm e deixa derecalque

Keep calm, don’t feel sofrustrated

O meu sensor de perigueteexplodiu

It seems my slag sensor isoverloaded

Pega sua inveja e vai pra… So take all your envy and gof…

(Rala sua mandada) (work until you die, pariah)

Beijinho no ombro prorecalque passar longe

A goodbye kiss through myshoulder to your frustration,so that it goes far away fromme

Beijinho no ombro só prasinvejosas de plantão

A goodbye kiss through myshoulder to all the enviouslosers on duty

Beijinho no ombro só quemfecha com o bonde

A goodbye kiss through myshoulder to all but those whojoin us

Beijinho no ombro só quemtem disposição

A goodbye kiss through myshoulder to all but those whohave the guts

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The cynicism of the first verses has an interestingeffect, for the enunciator seems-to-be, but actuallyproves definitely not-to-be magnanimous when shewishes a long life to her enemies, characterizing it asa lie in terms of Greimas’ veredictory categories(Greimas & Courtés, op. cit. pp. 487-489).Nonetheless, a more attentive examination allowsthe detection of a far more refined rhetoric figure. Inhis The astuteness of enunciation, José Luiz Fiorindefines irony as the effect of meaning generatedwhen the enunciation denies what is affirmed in theenunciate (Fiorin, 2010). One of the astute ways bywhich this effect is achieved in this song is by meansof the pause that separates verses 01 and 02 – apause that is even more effective because of theincidence of the melodic and harmonic resolutionsdown to the tonic in the words “vida longa” [a longlife]. These resources, exclusive and intrinsic tools ofthe process of enunciation, provide a timing and anintonation that favor the perception of the first verseas a complete and accomplished phrase – aperception altered by the next verse (see Figure 05)

The melodic figures of expression have someother important contributions to the meaningnuances in the enunciation. Invoking once more therelations between modulations and modalitiesproposed in the Semiotics of passions (Greimas &Fontanille, idem), the incidence of the ascendingperfect 4th in “Desejo a todas inimigas” [I wish all myenemies] and its move from the tonic to thesubdominant characterize an opening modulationthat is related to the virtualization of the subject –to-want-to, as if on a pleonasm or reiteration of thevolitive intention explicated by the lyrics. In fact, thesecond appearance of that interval confirms thathomologation, for the 4th falls now exactly when thelyrics reveal the subject’s true intentions: “pra queelas vejam cada dia mais…” [so that they see everyday], suggesting a semi-symbolic relation thatgenerates a synecdoche associating the effect ofmeaning of wish to that melodic interval – at leastmomentarily.

Another figure of expression that approaches theeffect of a pleonasm appears in the incidence of thedescending minor 3rd in “longa” [long], prolonging theclosed vocal “o”. The following phrase reveals thatthe subject’s apparent good wishes were actuallyironical, hence establishing that prolongation,associated to the cursive modulation, as essentiallydysphoric. The semantic traces of prolongation anddysphoria of that melodic figure of expression provesto be quite stable throughout the text, producing asemi-symbolic relation that can be easily detected inits other incidences throughout the song, as in(daqui eu não te) “escuto” [I can’t hear you from uphere] or (deixa de) “recalque” [don’t feel so frustrated]– all of them permeated by a sense of distance as a

sign of inferiority of the addressee (it is interesting tonote also the prevalence of long vowels, as thenasalized “longa” and “bomba” and the “au” phoneticdiphthong in “recalque”). Nevertheless, a mostimportant point to note is that this semi-symbolicrelation is not confined to the musical instance ofsubstance, presenting also relevant homologiesunder the form of visual figures of expression. Thus,the incidence of “vida longa” [a long life] isaccompanied in both the first and second chorus bycamera shots indicating distancing: in the firstchorus, by the sudden cut from a medium shot ofValesca’s in an illuminated hall to a long shotshowing her in front of six more dancers in the darkblue-lighted convent-like ambiance; in the secondone, by a cut from a close up on the singer’s face toan American plan displaying her sitting on a thronedressing a white bikini. In both incidences of “daquieu não te escuto” [I can’t hear you from up here], thecamera cuts from a middle to a long shot, and thechoreography produces an authentic pleonasmmaking all the dancers lead their hands to their earslike in a gesture to try to hear better – the onlydifference between the two choruses being thatValesca makes the same gesture by herself in thesecond one, dressing a golden short, a bra and along sleeved shirt that covers only her shoulders andarms. A similar notwithstanding less clear andpronounced distancing from the camera can be seenin both incidences of “deixa de recalque” – anexpression accompanied by different movements inthe two choruses that nonetheless have in commongestures with exaggerated articulations of the wrist,that in Brazilian culture are related with mockeryand derisive disapproval. On the other hand,“bomba” [bomb] constitutes here an exception wherethe semantic traces of intensiveness and punctualityassociated with that word in the plane of contentprevail over the cursivity in the sound (for musicaland verbal) figures of expression, resulting in asuspension of the previous commutation – therefore,a syncretism – that corresponds in the firstincidence to a sequence of three spasmodic gestures,one per beat throughout three beats, as if thedancers were elbowing with both arms someonebehind them (first, Vanessa by herself in the darkmonastic ambience; second, the dancers in a brightfireplace hall; third, Vanessa in front of them,wearing a red dress, resulting therefore in a cameracut for each beat). Actually, the punctuality ismarked also by some additional musical figures ofexpression like the brass attack on E and somepercussion elements emphasizing that moment asan accentuation. In the second chorus, the absenceof the hits is compensated by the incidence of thetiger’s roar and by a similar although lighteracceleration in the camera cuts.

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The last modulation indicated in Figure 05corresponds to the punctuality of the accents overthree consecutive syllables of “nossa vitória” [ourvictory], a natural consequence of the rhythmicsyncopation of the final bar. Here, a new synecdocheis created associating the punctuality of thataccentuation to a euphoric affirmation of superiority.Those semantic traces are present also in theincidences of “não faz história” [(your doublespeak)won’t work] and, already in the refrain, when itoccurs in (as invejosas) “de plantão” [(the enviouslosers) on duty]. In “nossa vitória”, another musicalfeature to emphasize the punctuality is the suddendoubling of the singer’s voice producing the effect ofa choir – like an army proclaiming its collectivevictory over the enemy. Differently from what wasobserved with respect to the way cursivity affectedboth the sound and visual figures of expression,although both punctuality and opening modulationsdo have relevant correspondences in the repertory ofvisual figures of expression in the film, they are notsynchronically commuted with their musicalcounterparts. Thus, neither the punctuality in“vitória” nor in “história” presents a commutationwith visual categories in the first chorus. On theother hand, an interesting phenomenon takes placein the second chorus. Hawks definitively do notpresent a particularly significant role in the Brazilianimagery – but some other birds of prey undoubtedlydo. One of them, the “urubu” – a Brazilian kind ofvulture –, is deeply related to bad luck and/orhumorous representations of ugliness anddisagreeableness. Hence, the homology created inthe second chorus by the incidence of thepunctuality in “nossa vitória” simultaneously with acut to a close up of the posed hawk with its wingsup and head down, as if subdued, allows ahumorous reading in the national semiosphere byan association of the prestigious hawk with theinfamous urubu – an interpretation greatlyreinforced by its reappearance during the followingincidence of “nem faz história”, as if confirming thepresence of the synecdoche and thereby reframingthe hawk into an urubu symbolizing the “invejosasde plantão” [envious losers on duty] as an ultimaterepresentation of the addressee in the audiovisualtext.

The musical semi-symbolic relations in verses 03and 04 that were already commented in the previousparagraph can be illustrated by figure 06, thuscompleting these initial considerations about thePart A of the Chorus (see Figure 06).

3.2.2 Chorus: Part BThe second and longest section of the lyrics,

containing 8 verses organized into 4 couplets,contains a set of interesting figures of expressionthat, like in the case of the hawk/urubu commented

above, adds up a subtle effect of humor thatconsiderably enriches the audiovisual text withrespect to its exclusively musical enunciation as aradio song. In the first verse, “Acredito em Deus” [Ibelieve in God], humor appears as a musical figurewhen the word “Deus” [God] coincides not only withan E brass attack but also with the start of thepercussion set of the so called Funk Carioca [Rio deJaneiro Funk], that presents a considerableinfluence of African-Brazilian music and thus alsowith the unavoidable associations with its paganreligiosity. So, the incidence of the word “Deus”starts a percussion set that subtly evokes theimagery of Brazilian Santeria rituals, and thefollowing verses, “faço Ele de escudo” [and the Lordis my shield] – which is accompanied by a gesture ofarms and forearms in a 90 degrees angle, up in thefirst chorus with all the dancers and resting onValesca’s waist in the second one – contribute toconfirm that analogy by evoking well-known rites ofprotection. Besides, in the visual instance ofsubstance, the abrupt beginning of thechoreography and Valesca’s presentation now with avivid red mini-skirt dress also emphasize the abovementioned inference, relating her chromatically andsymbolically with the figure of the well-known“Pomba-Gira”, a feminine entity of Umbanda (one ofthe many forms of Brazilian Santeria) traditionallydressed in red and often seen as a trickster withstrong traces of voluptuousness, uncontrollableirreverence and debauchery. Hence, as in the case ofthe association of the hawk with the less prestigiousurubu, the word “Deus” triggering the drums evokesa local and less prestigious form of African-Brazilianreligiosity that, wonderfully rich and widespread asit is, is even so still now a victim of the historicprejudices that have for centuries insisted on tryingto repress the large symbolic apparatus associatedwith the huge African heritage in Brazil.

Having already commented the cursivity andgestural pleonasm in “não te escuto” [I can’t hearyou], the music score will help to illustrate anotherimportant feature with respect to the aspectualmodulations in the syncretic text (see Figure 07).

The incidence of a descending perfect 5th in“Acredito em Deus” [I believe in God] establishes itsclosure as the fourth aspectual configuration of themodulations paradigm. The effect of meaning ofactualization previewed in the Semiotics of Passionsis consistent with a subject that recognizes andemphasizes a condition of power: she knows-to-be-able-to. This recognition is detectable not only in theaffirmation of her alleged faith in a supernaturalprotection, but also in her pragmatic conviction thatshe would be in a superior rank with respect to heraddressee, as in “Late mais alto (que daqui eu não teescuto)” [(Please) Bark louder, (for I can’t hear youfrom up here)]. The already commented entrance ofthe percussion with the word “Deus” [God] is also

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accompanied by the actual start of the chorusdancing in the film – another fact that may as wellbe interpreted as a token of power, thus extendingthe homologies both to the visual and musicalinstances of substance. The validity of this semi-symbolic relation is particularly widespread,allowing multiple examples: in verse 03, theenunciation of “do camarote” [from the VIP box]takes place with a cut from the fireplace hall whereValesca is dancing with her red “Pomba-Gira” dressto the gates of the stairway hall where she is againstanding in her princess costume escorted by twoimposing guardians (an image with wide resonancein Brazilian contemporary imagery, in which theeconomic elite is often accompanied by bodyguardsdue to the high rates of criminality in the country);exactly the same figures are repeated in “não soucovarde” [I’m not a coward], and the only differencein “o meu sensor (de periguete)” [my slag sensor] isthat the phrase starts with a medium shot of theprincess, cuts to an American Plan of the “Pomba-Gira” and cuts again to a close up in a light contre-plongé of Valesca’s face. Finally, the last incidence ofthat interval closes Part B with “Pega a sua inveja evai pra…” [So take all your envy and go f…] – againwith the singer’s close up, now not only with thecontre-plongé but also with Valesca tensioning herlips and necks and arrogantly raising her chin whilelooking down to the camera. The ellipsis of theimplicit curse is marked by an instrumental breakfollowed by a general pause and by the gesture oftwo androgynous ephebes (which are almost alwaysin the front plan as Valesca’s closest dancers) thatcover her mouth and look at the camera in awe as ifshocked by the situation, producing the effect of ahumorous exaggeration – actually, an irony bydefinition, for the moralist schock of the dancers inthe visual instance of the syncretic enunciation is incontradiction with the frankness of the songenunciate. In order to make these and the followingremarks more clear, Figure 8 displays the musicscore of the rest of Part B (see Figure 08).

Homologations between categories of expressionand content make Section B particularly rich insemi-symbolic relations that ultimately generaterhetoric figures. Thus, the punctuality in theascending major 3rd in “te ver” [see you] isaccompanied by its pleonastic realization by thedancers, who make a gesture with their hands thatsimulates an attempt to cover the clarity of the sunin order to see better. The intense wish implicit inthe opening of the ascending perfect 5th (asynecdoche commented in the previous item) and inthe line “tá rachando a cara, tá querendo aparecer”[You’re smashing your own face trying to show up],besides constituting an hyperbole in its own rightpresents another pleonasm when all the dancersopen up their arms as if desperately wanting to show

up or appear on a photo. The already commentedcursivity in “deixa de recalque” [don’t feel sofrustrated] constitutes another example of irony, forthe mockery gesture of the wrist and the handholding the elbow (“dor-de-cotovelo” – pain in theelbow – is a classic expression in Brazil to expressfrustration) seem willing to emphasize rather than tosoften the addressee’s moral pain. Finally, besidesthe irony and ellipsis of the 8th verse, anotherinteresting figure appears in the previous verse withthe punctuality of the ascending major 3rd in“explodiu” [literally, “exploded”, translated in thelyrics context as overloaded]: musically, the alreadycommented break in the instrumentalaccompaniment, and visually, the cut to Valesca’sarrogant contre-plongé showing her making asudden movement as if trying to hit a close opponentwith her head result in a metonym of the explosionshock (also emphasized by the foley figurativizationof a bomb being dropped and whistling while slowlyfalling until hitting the ground). It is interesting tonote that most of the rhetoric figures are essentiallypreserved in their correspondent incidence in the 2nd

Chorus: “Acredito em Deus” agains triggers apercussion set, and Valesca’s display of power takesplace not by means of the dancing “Pomba-Gira”,but by her figure dressed in her golden costume andcomfortably lying by herself on the sofa of a hall fullof chandeliers; in “Late mais alto”, her superiorityposition is represented by a sudden cut to thestairway hall where she is again dressed like aprincess, and in “não te escuto” the pleonasticgesture of making a shell with her hand by her eargains a fine touch of irony by her situation dressedin gold lying in the chandelier hall with an affectedexpression of concern (betrayed by a cynical smile);thus, her power is confirmed over and over when sheappears surrounded by two guards in “do camarote”,or sitting in her throne in “não sou covarde”; thepunctuality of “explodiu” finds the tiger’s roarinstead of the bomb as a representation of theenunciator’s cholera, and a final touch of humourends the section when the image of the hawk/urubuwith its head down as if depressed appears as thetheme of envy in evoked in “pega a sua inveja e…”[so take all your envy and…], and Valesca’s cynicismrather than the foley of the bomb and the dancersgesture of affected shame covers the silence of theellipsis with the additional phrase “rala, suamandada” [work until you die, pariah].

3.2.3 Refrain and some of its rhetoric tools(see Figure 09)

A first point to note is that its melodic andharmonic profile is almost identical to the onecorrespondent to “Acredito em Deus, faço dele meuescudo” or “Não sou covarde, já tô pronta procovarde”. As in so many other figures of expression

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pervading this song, a semantic contagion evokes tothe same melodic outline the repetition also of someof the semantic traces reinforced in the previoussynecdoches: the proud affirmation of theenunciator’s belief in her superiority with respect tothe enunciatee. The already discussed cynicism ofthe expression “Beijinho no ombro” is reinforced inthe audiovisual text by a visual figure of expressionthat constitutes another pleonasm presenting thedancers, with the ephebes occupying the front line,introducing into the choreography the gesture ofturning their heads sending kisses to the right andto the left while their upturned hips lend affectationand irony to the movement. A metonym adds to theexpression “passar longe” [so that it goes far away] agesture simulating the action of moving somethingaway with the arms alternating leftwards andrightwards before a less predictable figure appears:the musical punctuality in “(as invejosas) deplantão” [(the envious losers) on duty] ishomologized to an opening gesture in which Valescaand the dancers incline their column frontwards anexaggeratedly upturn their hips as and move them ifassuming a passive posture in an intercourse. Here,the associations of the punctuality with theenunciator’s sense of victory and of the opening withthe idea of desiring for something build a complexsyncretic chord that results in the affirmation of theenunciator’s power and the mockery of herenunciatee – a gesture that will be repeatedabsolutely every time this verse is sung, with theaddition, in the second chorus, of anotherinteresting figure: the incidence of the word“invejosas” with the image of the hawk, reinforcingthe approximation of the effigy of the noble bird withthe semantic field related to the prosaic urubu andall the humorous connotations commented before.Analogously, “só quem fecha com o bonde” [thosewho join us], a phrase that uses the Brazilian slang“fecha” (literally, “closes”) with the connotation of“joining”, is concomitant in the film with the gestureof raising the arms and crossing them up in the air,producing an interesting metonym based upon thedenotation rather than the connotation of the verbalterm it expresses – and whose incidence in the 2nd

Chorus is accompanied by the image of thehawk/urubu looking downwards as if depressed,emphasizing a connotation of exclusion that will befurther discussed later. The last phrase of therefrain, “só quem tem disposição” [those who havethe guts], corresponds in the choreography to agesture that complements the one that accompanied“as invejosas de plantão”: the dancers, and mainlyValesca, wiggles moving the hips vigorously incircles, as if playing the active role in an intercourseand thereby emphasizing the vitality and joy of thewinners of the social game that will be one of themain topics of the next and last item of this article.

4. Final considerationsThe analysis of the generative path and figures of

expression in the music video “Beijinho no ombro”can be summarized in the Table 02.

Thus, Valesca, the funk percussion, her jewelsand princess dresses correspond to the axis ofCulture, whereas the so-called “envy losers”, theGrand Pauses, the lances that forbid the passage ofstrangers and the bareness of the half-nakeddancers belong to the axis of Nature. For a morecareful examination, it is useful to approach thedifferent levels of the generative path one by one. Inthe fundamental level, the centripetal pole ofattraction in the valences, marked as euphoric andintense, is converted to the narrative level to thehubris associated to Vanessa’s character, whosepride, powerful but contained wrath and joy opposethe envy, frustration and the empty want that will bepart of the anathema of her antagonist. Constantlyassuming the function of Addresser, the singer isactualized as the one who knows (the conversion ofthe closure modulations) and is-able-to, while themodalities reserved to her Addressee are those ofbeing virtualized by her want (that corresponds tothe opening modality) and by the commands sheapparently has-to follow (punctuality). Exposition isassigned as one of the main values of the system – aquality immanent to Valesca’s condition from the topof her VIP box, and that her enemies struggle toconquer in their pathetic attempts to show up. So,the lack of exposition is converted in the discursivelevel to the theme of anonymity that makes thesinger’s opponents frustrated pariahs, while Valesca,confident and proud, shows her power andarrogance with signs of royalty and prestige. Thesinger, protected by her guardians and followed by achoir, affirms her faith in God while she pets apowerful tiger that roars against her rival – a nobodyfrequently labeled as a bitch or a slag, whose actionsare caricatured by two ephebes and whoseanathema is so pronounced that it alters thesymbolic allusions of a hawk into the popular andhumoristic connotations associated with the urubu[Brazilian vulture]. As far as the figures ofexpression are concerned, the visual instance ofsubstance provides a quite unequal treatment to thetwo opposing axes that organize the plane ofcontent. Section 1 was instrumental in exemplifyingcamera takes that consistently developed towards anapproximation with respect to Valesca, positioningher frontally with her head up as the center ofinnumerous close-ups – many in contre-plongé – orshowing her dancing and wiggling to affirm her self-assurance. On the other hand, a frequently derisiveapproach to the other axis would make the cameraretreat by the mentioning of the singer’s opponents,and their caricatural representation by the ephebeswas in general peripheral to the movements of the

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estudos semióticos – vol. 12, n. 1 – julho de 2016

prima ballerina, taken by long shots often in plongé.In the musical instance of substance, Section 1worked practically as a harmonic preparation inwhich the last pedal note will be the III degree of theB minor tonic, the center of attraction of the tonality– not surprisingly the chord that sounds whenValesca sings her victory and vitality. Thedescending perfect 5th, convoking the closure aspectfrom the fundamental level, will affirm her faith inGod and her bravery, while the inverse interval, anopening ascending perfect 4th, will accompany thecynical good wishes of Valesca with respect to heropponent. Valesca’s bobbing and her allusions to hervictory will manifest their punctuality associatedwith an ascending major 3rd, while the descendingminor 3rd will be sung in all dysphoric prolongations– as during the allusions to a long life of humiliationor the unsurmountable distance that separateslosers from their unachievable dreams.

The importance of the figures of expression incomplex syncretic texts such as films justifies theresumption of attempts to organize an analyticalapproach in which the plane of expression is nottreated as foreign to the process of generation ofmeaning. Figures of expression often take part inhomologies with categories of content in such a wayas to compound semi-symbolic relations that willultimately constitute rhetoric tools, many timestranscending the condition of local validity toassume a generality that can even pervade the textas a whole. Anyway, if the figures of expression arehomologized to categories of content, and theseultimately correspond to conversions orconvocations of forces organized as oppositions inthe fundamental level, so the organization of theplane of expression in figures of expression mustalso be oriented by the vectors in activity in thatlevel. Although the traditional dichotomies – like forexample nature x culture or intension x extension –have often proved to be either insufficient orunsatisfactory to deal with non-verbal texts such asmusic, where figures of expression play a major role(Tarasti, 1994), the aspectualization of themodulations seems to constitute a most productiveapproach to an analytical model of generative paththat considers levels of invariance capable ofrespond not only to the three levels of the plane ofcontent but also with the structuration of the figuresof expression. Figure 10 shows a scheme in whichthe four aspectual modulations, convoked to theorganization of the categories of expression, allow agenerative approach from the sound and visualmanifestation to the three analytical levels thatconfigure the immanence of the syncretic text (seeFigure 10).

The inclusion of the interaction regimes in theillustration above not only shows how versatile suchan approach seems to be, but also invites us to some

further reflections with respect to the analyzed textand its role in the Brazilian semiosphere. Asstressed before, the ascension of the basis of thesocial pyramid in Brazil since the early 1990s hasproduced huge social, political and cultural changesin the country, in a revolutionary process that, withno political or historical upheaval or majordiscontinuities, has even so deeply altered the classrelations that pervade most of its symbolicrepresentations. In “Beijinho no ombro”,Landowski’s interaction regimes and theirimplications with respect to the problem of socialintegration play a major role to relate the text in thesemiosphere to the context it belongs to. Theprotagonist of the music video, a princess in hercastle and a priestess in her own religion, displays inher mini-skirts, her vocal timbre and her aestheticchoices the social marks of her origins in theBrazilian funk bas-fond, thereby assuming aposition compatible with a successful representativeof that major social ascension. Assimilating thesymbolic apparatus of the national economic elites –the castle used to belong to a wealthy aristocrat, thesecond Baron of Vasconcelos –, the singernonetheless assumes also their traditional andproverbial arrogance. Hence, the social distancesbetween her and those who are hierarchically belowhave become to the powerful diva a source ofsadistic amusement. Her opponents arecharacterized as social climbers still in their pursuitfor admission – a condition that she seems to haveonce and for all transcended. Frustrated in theirattempts of ascension, the so-called envious losersare segregated by the queen of the VIP box – after all,they would not have the guts and/or the conditionsto join Valesca and her entourage. Nonetheless, theirenvy of the new princess’ status slide throughout adelicate balance between two poles – one thatentertains and other that irritates her. This is theneuralgic point of the text: if the princess abandonsherself to her dismay and fury, excluding herantagonists by telling them to go f…, she will also“descer do salto” (literally “climb down from thehigh-heeled shoes”, meaning to lose one’s temper ina social situation, with a connotation of inelegance)or provoke a “barraco” (a house in a favela – anexpression with a meaning similar to the previousone, but connoting a much more scandalousaltercation) – attitudes no longer compatible with herposition. The solution is to resist the temptation ofexert her power of exclusion, keeping nonetheless astate of segregation that she cynically disguises inan apparently inclusive greeting: the “beijinho noombro”, a kiss that can barely hide her contemptand derision for the condition of her opponents. Farfrom a conciliatory approach, the film isimpregnated by the deep scars that social inequalityhas left in Brazil throughout its history, and

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suggests that the balance between the constructivedesire of building an inclusive commonwealth andthe destructive lust for revenge of an empoweredsociety may be one of the new challenges claimingfor a symbolic representation in the nationalsemiosphere

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Dados para indexação em língua estrangeira

Ricardo Nogueira de Castro Monteiro.Funk brasileiro como símbolo de uma nova ordem social.

Estudos Semióticos, vol. 12, n. 1 (2016)issn 1980-4016

Resumo: O presente artigo tem por objetivo analisar o clipe de “Beijinho no ombro” — um grande sucessobrasileiro nas redes sociais que alcançou, em três meses, mais de nove milhões de visualizações no YouTubeem 2014 — discutindo tanto os processos pelos quais estabelecem-se homologias entre categorias doexpressão e do conteúdo — as assim chamadas comutações de Hjelmslev — e suspensões — o conceito de“sincretismo” do linguista dinamarquês (Hjelmslev, 2003) — no texto audiovisual, e os efeitos de sentidocriados dessa forma. O tratamento analítico assimila algumas das contribuições de Eric Landowski para asdiscussões sobre os regimes de interação intersubjetivos (Landowski, 1997, 2006) e seu impacto no estudodos assim chamados estados de alma, desenvolvidos com profundidade por Greimas e Fontanille em seuSemiótica das paixões (Greimas; Fontanille, 1993). O objeto de análise visa, além dissop, ilustrar aabordagem metodológica proposta pelo autor e que pode ser aplicada a vários corpora considerando orepertório audiovisual. Tal abordagem, uma extensão natural do tratamento greimasiano do plano doconteúdo e dos desenvolvimentos de Floch para o plano da expressão, oferece como contribuição a proposta deuma metodologia que, partindo das figuras de expressão e de suas homologações e relações semissimbólicascom as categorias do conteúdo, detectará então as projeções em cada um dos três níveis do percurso gerativo.Assim, não apenas o papel dos meios de manifestação no processo de geração de efeitos de sentido pode sermelhor avaliado, mas também as possibilidades de uma abordagem gerativa que inclui as estruturas textuais— mais do que a exclusão explícita que aparece no Dicionário de Semiótica (Greimas; Courtés, 1991: 208) —podem ser discutidas.

Palavras-chave: análise semiótica; sincretismo; semissimbolismo; videoclipe; semiótica musical.

Como citar esse artigoRicardo Nogueira de Castro Monteiro. Brazilian funk as the herald of a new social order:

a semiotic analysis of the internet music video “Beijinho no ombro” and its reception in social media

Estudos semióticos [on-line]. Disponível em: ( http://www.revistas.usp.br/esse ).Editores responsáveis: Ivã Carlos Lopes e José América Bezerra Saraiva.

Volume 12, Número 1, São Paulo, Julho de 2016, p. 8-20.DOI: 10.11606/issn.1980-4016.esse.2016.120532.

Acesso em “dia/mês/ano”.

Data de recebimento: 12/02/2016Data de aprovação: 16/06/2016

Anexos

Figure 01: Orchestral score with titles – Bars 1-4

Figure 02: Melodic line, harmonic functions and main homologies – Bars 5-12

Figure 03: Harmonic functions and main homologies – Bars 13-17

Table 01: Homologies between categories of expression and content in the introductory section

Figure 04: Organ ostinato in the beginning of Section 2

Figure 05: Section 2A, verses 01 and 02.

Figure 06: Section 2A, verses 03 and 04.

Figure 07: Section 2B, verses 01 and 02.

Figure 08: Section 2B, verses 03 to 08.

Figure 09: Section 2: Refrain

Table 02: Generative path and figures of expression in “Beijinho no ombro”.

Figure 10: A generative approach to the organization of both the categories of expression and content