Ethics in the Sung Duels of North-Eastern Brazil: Collective Memory and Contemporary Practice

• Published in: British journal of ethnomusicology 2000-01, Vol.9 (1), p.61-94
• Main Author: Travassos, Elizabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brazil; Brazilian music; Collective memory; Contests; Duets; Ethics; Ethnomusicology; Fighting techniques; Honour and shame; Music; Music and Poetry; Music and Society; Music practice; Musical Cultures; Musical performance; Musical Traditions; Oral poetry; Performance art; Performance Practice; Poetic Forms; Poetry; Practice; Singers; Singing; Social Identity; Songs; Violas
• ISSN: 0968-1221; 1741-1912; 1741-1920

This article deals with a genre of Brazilian sung poetic duels called "cantoria", "repente" or "desafio". It begins with a short description of the performance context of cantoria, commenting on some of the poetic styles the singers employ, including "louvação" (praise), "elogio" (eulogy), "malcriação" (rudeness) and "sabedoria" (knowledge). There follows a discussion of the ethical norms that inform contemporary practice during confrontations, which the singers contrast with the great duels of the past. During the highly idealized "heroic era" of the tradition, two singers confronted one another as adversaries, while today they engage in "friendly bouts". I deal with "folhetos de cordel", pamphlets which publish representations of sung duels, treating them as one of the ways in which the collective memory of cantoria is elaborated and preserved. I suggest that sung duels demarcate a space in which the contestants temporarily suspend their social identities to confront one another as equals. Thus, cantoria establishes a neutral arena in which, through poetry and music, the experimentation of ethical and logical solutions related to hierarchy and equality can take place.