Symbolic-social interaction in the musical formation of cantoria nordestina

Abstract

The symbolic-interactionist perspective has stood out in social studies and the humanities as one of the main ways of understanding human actions and expressive forms. From this perspective, this text reflects on symbolic-interactive dimensions in musical formation and the perspectives surrounding the idea of “gift” of three repentistas from the State of Ceará, Northeast Brazil, based on a case study on their musical transmission processes. Repentistas are singers of a poetic and musical art common in Northeast Brazil, characterized by the improvisation of verses, called cantoria repentista or just cantoria. Based on interviews carried out with the three singers, the analyzes and interpretations are developed in conjunction with the sociologist Erving Goffman's symbolic interactionism framework, in order to understand how symbolic acts produce meanings in the construction of the “professional artist” during the processes of streaming. The results point to the perspective of manifesting the gift from a social base. Thus, the social environment presents itself as fundamental for the formation of the repentista, as it allows the absorption of the aesthetic, identity and cultural elements of art that make up that scenario.