This article explores an interdisciplinary approach that integrates historiography, musicology, iconography and motion computing to investigate the interactions between music, body and visual representation. Introduces the concept of “embodied iconography”, which seeks to interpret historical images not only as visual documents, but as traces of the bodily and musical dynamics of the contexts in which they were created. Based on the analysis of body postures in 19th century iconographic representations related to capoeira and their comparison with contemporary movement recordings, the study reveals how the bodies represented in the images can reflect complex musical and choreographic practices, displaying the distortions of colonial discourse. By relating historical and technological data, the study highlights the importance of studies on corporeality in the reconstruction of cultural contexts and contributes to the decolonization of historiographic and musicological studies, offering new perspectives on Afro-Brazilian cultural practices.
https://periodicos.ufrn.br/artresearchjournal/article/view/33192
Keywords: body; iconography; african diaspora; human movement; capoeira.
What is embedded iconography?
“Embodied iconography” is a concept that seeks to interpret historical images in order to understand not only the explicit visual content, but also the bodily aspects, musical and cultural implicit in them. This concept proposes that images can be seen as traces of the bodily and musical dynamics of the contexts in which they were created.. Instead of seeing visual representations as just static documents, embedded iconography attempts to recover the bodily and choreographic interactions that these images may suggest.
In the capoeira case study, for example, The embedded iconography uses images of postures and body gestures portrayed in the 19th century to compare with captured movements of contemporary capoeiristas. This allows images to be analyzed as “musical documents” that convey aspects of cultural practice, allowing a reading that considers the movement, the music and the postures of the bodies represented there. This approach allows you to access a deeper layer of meaning, where the body represented in the image becomes a channel for interpreting past cultural and musical contexts.
Important concepts developed in the article
1. Embedded iconography: Approach that interprets historical images as records of bodily and musical dynamics.
2. Corporeality: Analysis of the body as a central element in the reconstruction of cultural and musical contexts.
3. Decolonization: Critical review of historical and musical studies to overcome distortions of the colonial gaze.
4. Interdisciplinarity: Story integration, music, art and technology to better understand the relationship between body and culture.
Luiz Naveda, State University of Minas Gerais (UEMG)
Luiz Naveda has a PhD in Art Sciences (2011, Ghent University), Master in Music from UFMG and Bachelor in Music (guitar) by UEMG. Permanent professor at the State University of Minas Gerais and the Postgraduate Program in Arts at the same institution, Naveda is dedicated to investigating the relationship between dance, music and visual representations, with an emphasis on digital humanities. Your research combines music data recovery methods (ME), movement analysis and cognitive science approaches to explore the intersection between body, music and iconography, especially in Afro-Brazilian contexts such as capoeira. In addition to his academic work, is a performer, compositor e designer, creating soundtracks, installations and multimedia for shows and digital art projects. At the moment, coordinates the Corpuslab research group, where he explores the relationships between body, music and technology in the context of the arts.
Loque Arcanjo, State University of Minas Gerais (UEMG)
Loque Arcanjo Junior has a doctorate and master's degree in Social History of Culture from UFMG, with a specialization in History of Culture and Art. He completed a post-doctorate in Music and Culture at the UFMG School of Music. At the moment, is coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Arts and professor at the Department of Music Theory at UEMG, where he develops research in the areas of Music and History. Linked to PAMVILLA research groups (ECA/USP) e Corpuslab (UEMG), also serves on UEMG councils and committees. Coordinates projects funded by CNPq on Afro-Brazilian music and the internationalization of Villa-Lobos' work. He is the author of books about Villa-Lobos and Brazilian music, includingThe Genius of Villa-Lobos (2022), The Musical Identities of Heitor Villa-Lobos (2016), eThe rhythm of the mixture and the beat of History (2008). Teaches subjects such as Art History, History of Brazilian Music and Cultural Anthropology.