Gossip, scandal and popular culture in golden age Brazil

This essay explores both the nature of popular culture and its relationship to the dominant culture in Minas Gerais, the gold mining center of Brazil, during the eighteenth century. The main thesis of the essay is that the po pular culture was able to resist modification by the dominant culture (the Catholic Church, the Portuguese state and key sectors of the colonial elite ) in critical areas of life and ther forced the dominant culture to accommo date to its values. The vehicle for the expression of the popular culture w as the voz popular or peoples' voice which was articulated by murmuracao, m urmurings or gossip. The values, power and functioning of the voz popular i s explored in various social and cultural contexts.