Translating Verve: The Institutional Work of the Bossa Nova Crossover, 1955-1967

We conduct a historical study of the translation of Bossa Nova from the musical genre’s origin in Brazil to the United States, where it became a major influence on Jazz and popular forms of music. We found that across three periods the types of work performed by actors varied across four types: creating, evangelizing, shepherding, and blaspheming. These actions by distributed sets of actors advanced the genre, ensured the integrity of the genre, and slowed its spread. This work was not limited to mediators and parties in the recipient context, but to creators in the original context that sought to promote and safeguard their cultural product. This suggests that the translation process, particularly when concerning cultural products, might fluctuate between being a “hand off” between parties but a flow ebbed and driven by interests that may grow to span boundaries.