Title: Boi Da Cara Preta

General Information about Item:

• Children’s folklore, lullaby
• Language: Portuguese
• Country of origin: Brazil
• Informant: JB
• Date Collected: October 16, 2021

Informant Data:

• JB was born in Winter Garden, Florida on March 23, 2001. She grew up with her younger brother and two parents. Her mother and father moved to Florida from Brazil in their early twenties but the rest of her family remains in Brazil. Her family is catholic and their ethnicity is Brazilian. JB and her family participated heavily in their community throughout her childhood and she participated in numerous extracurricular activities such as volleyball, soccer, and orchestra. 

Contextual Data:

• Cultural context: This item is a classic brazilian child lullaby sung by many families who share a brazilian heritage. While the song is sung in a gentle and soothing tone, the lyrics to the lullaby are actually scary. Lullabies are used across the world, and in Brazil, to help a child drift of to sleep, they help foster a connection between the parents and the baby, and they also are helpful in establishing a routine for the baby. This lullaby culturally is an example of the parents role to protect the child from scary things that might be in the world. That is why the content is scary but the melody and delivery is gentle for this lullaby.
• Social Context: For JB, this lullaby is a way for her to connect to her brazilian heritage and her family who remains in Brazil even though she and her immediate family live in Florida. JB rarely got to see her family as a child, so this lullaby is something that her whole family, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all share to connect them to their culture and each other. 

Item:

Text: Boi, boi, boi,   Boi da cara preta Pega está criança que  tem medo de careta Não, não, não  Não pega ele não Ele é bonitinho, ele chora coitadinho.

English Translation: Bull, bull, bull, Bull with the black face  Get this child who  Is afraid of frowns. No, no, no, Please do not get him, He is a beautiful child and He is crying, poor little one.

• This lullaby has many different versions and verses, but this is a translation from the informant. The translation does not carry this, but the song has rhyming lines and short catchy phrases for ease of memorization. 

Associated File:

Informants Comments:

“This was my favorite lullaby growing up because my mom, my aunt and my grandma would sing it to me.”

Collector’s Comments: 

I have not heard this lullaby before but it has many of the same characteristics as ones I learned as a young child.

Collector:

Ali Silva

Dartmouth College

Russian 13

Professor Gronas and Professor Apresyan

Fall 2021