Born in Belém, Pará, right in the Brazilian Amazon Region, Marcio Bahia specializes in Brazilian literary and cultural studies. His current research focuses on the tecnobrega music scene.
Tecnobrega, a musical genre that splices largely original work with popular music, is primarily created by poor populations in the Amazon regions of Brazil. Bahia studies how technology is adopted in the tecnobrega scene and how it is used in the ongoing process of cultural legitimization of the rhythm. On the topic, Bahia has published “The Periphery Rises: Technology and Cultural Legitimization in Belém’s Tecnobrega” in Ellipsis 13 (2015):33-54, the journal of the American Portuguese Studies Association. He also is currently working on a book-length manuscript tentatively entitled “Tecnobrega and other revolutions: technology and cultural legitimization in the Brazilian peripheral music scene.”
Bahia teaches courses in Portuguese language and Brazilian literature and culture, such as Portuguese Language and Culture I (ROPO 10103), Brazilian Pop Culture (ROPO 30650) and Brazil Beyond Soccer and Samba (ROPO 40950).