Globalization, authenticity and legitimacy in Mexican capoeira

Islas, David Sebastian Contreras ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6079-4074 2023. Globalization, authenticity and legitimacy in Mexican capoeira. Martial Arts Studies (14) , pp. 11-21. 10.18573/mas.161

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Abstract

As Capoeira globalizes, a growing number of non-Brazilian practitioners have the opportunity to become capoeira masters (Mestres). In this context, my contribution analyses strategies followed by the first Mexican man and woman to obtain what Griffith calls the “ultimate marker of authenticity”. As I have argued in another place (Author, 2021), Mexican Capoeira is interesting because it seems to have achieved a more advanced glocalization state than “diasporic capoeira” in the Global North. Thus, examining the life stories of Mexican Mestres might prove interesting to compare the dynamics of authenticity/legitimacy in globalized Capoeira across the North-South-Divide. While my findings corroborate many of Griffith’s observations regarding the strategies non-Brazilian capoeiristas employ to achieve legitimacy, they also point out some crucial differences in issues such as innovation, apprenticeship pilgrimages, and the status of the title of Mestre as the “ultimate marker of authenticity”.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2057-5696
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 November 2023
Date of Acceptance:	12 September 2023
Last Modified:	13 Nov 2023 16:42
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163866

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