Joshua Rosenthal

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Joshua Rosenthal is a leading scholar of Afro-Brazilian cultural history, with a focused expertise on capoeira—the martial art, dance, and game that emerged from enslaved African communities. His most cited work, "Recent Scholarly and Popular Works on Capoeira" (2007, 14 citations), serves as a critical historiographical essay that maps the field’s evolution, analyzing key texts like Greg Downey’s *Learning Capoeira* and examining how scholars have grappled with themes of cunning, resistance, and conformity in Afro-Brazilian traditions. Rosenthal’s contribution lies in synthesizing disparate academic and popular sources, offering a roadmap for understanding capoeira not just as a physical practice but as a lens into Brazilian racial politics, cultural memory, and identity formation. While his citation count reflects a specialized niche, his work has shaped how subsequent researchers approach the intersection of performance, embodiment, and postcolonial theory. Rosenthal’s biography underscores a dedication to elevating marginalized cultural forms within academic discourse, making his scholarship essential for students of Latin American studies, ethnomusicology, and the African diaspora.