Caipira

Caipiras ( in Caipira dialect) are the traditional population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Later, with the expansion of São Paulo's influence to other regions of the country, other states also had Caipiras in their localities, like Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Paraná. All the regions where Caipira culture predominates are grouped into a cultural area, known since the 20th century as Paulistania. During the period of the Colonial Brazil, the Caipiras were speakers of the Paulista General Language, today a dead language; currently, they have their own dialect, which preserves elements of this language and Medieval Galician. The Caipira and its culture is considered by intellectuals as an evolution of the old Paulista society and the Bandeirante culture.

Origin and etymology

The first Caipiras were the Bandeirantes, a group of explorers who set out from São Paulo, exploring the backlands in search of metals and precious stones. When they came into contact with the Guaianás, an indigenous people who inhabited the Medio Tietê region, in the interior of São Paulo, they received the name "Caipiras," which became a synonym for Paulista, a similar case to that of the gaucho, which in Brazil became a synonym for ''Rio-grandense''.

There are various theories as to the true meaning of 'Caipira.' The oldest definition was made by Baptista Caetano d'Almeida in the 19th century, describing it as a combination of the terms "''cai''" (burnt) + "''pira''" (skin), which in Tupi perhaps describes the tanned or dark skin of the Caipira colonizers.

For Luís de Câmara Cascudo, in his book ''Dictionary of Brazilian Folklore'', published since 1954, the origin may lie in "''caá''" (jungle) + "''pora''" (inhabitant), which means "inhabitant of the jungle" in Tupi; the same work, however, describes the Caipira in a stereotyped way, as a "poorly educated man or woman," and erroneously compares him or her with other peoples, such as the Caiçaras.

See also

* Caipira culture
* Caboclos
* Caipira dialect
* Caipira guitar
* Caipira music
* Caipirinha, alcoholic drink whose name is a diminutive of ''caipira''.
* Caiçaras
* Gauchos
* Sertanejo people

* Ribeirinhos

Citations

General and cited references

* Cândido, Antônio. ''Os parceiros do Rio Bonito'' Sp, José Olympio, 1957.
* Monteiro Lobato, José Bento de. ''Urupês'', Editora Monteiro Lobato e Cia., 1923.
* Nepomuceno, Rosa. ''Música Caipira, da roça ao rodeio'', Editora 34, 1999.
* Queiróz, Renato da Silva. ''Caipiras Negros no Vale do Ribeira'', Editora da USP, 1983.
* Pires, Cornélio. ''Conversas ao pé do fogo'' – IMESP, edição fac-similar, 1984.

Brazilian folklore
Traditional peoples in Brazil

{{Ethno-stub