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April 27, 2012

ULM's Keeney publishes new book in Brazil

ULM Professor and Hanna Spyker Eminent Scholars Chair in Education Dr. Bradford Keeney and Dr. Hillary Keeney, distinguished visiting professor, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico, launched a new book in Brazil.

The book, titled, "A Arte de Beber uma Taca de Amor," offers creative contemplations on the poetics of Antonio Carlos Jobim's lyrics and is published by IDPH Press, Campinas, Brazil.

"A Arte de Beber uma Taca de Amor" translates to The Art of Drinking a Glass of Love.

It is a poetic exposition on the Portugese word, suadade, which refers to the longing for love. This longing reportedly underlies all loving, whether it be in a romantic relationship or spiritual communion with the sacred. Brazilian culture is especially aware of the emotion of suade, as it permeates their music, poetry, literature, and dance.

The songs of bassa nova, especially those composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim, are musical expressions of this longing for love. Jobim's prodigious work included "The Girl from Ipanema," "Wave," "Insensitive," and "One Note Samba."

The Keeneys creatively draw upon his lyrics to inspire reflections on the nature of love, doing so in ways that enable others to re-examine how longing contributes to organizing the deepest forms of human expression, from social relationship to art and religion.

They also underscore how healing traditions all over the world, especially in Brazil, often utilize a glass of water that is prayed over in a loving manner, so that people are literally offered a glass of love to heal their emotional wounds.

In this poetic book that is a tribute to suade and the cultural expression of Brazil, the Keeneys offer poetry, transformative stories and philosophical considerations of how longing is inseparable from loving.

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