SONS DA PRETITUDE: um estudo sobre as artes musicais negras em Salvador

Abstract

This is an ethnomusicological study, of a qualitative nature and subjectivist philosophical orientation, which reflects and discusses the nature of sounds, ideas and discourses about black music in Brazil and in the Afro-diaspora. In this study, I seek to understand the global perception of black music, focusing on the vision of artists from Salvador. The main purpose of the thesis is to answer the following questions: a) what is the understanding that artists from Salvador have about black music, and what are the implications of these perceptions in the recognition and appreciation of these artistic expressions and their actors/agents? b) what is black music and what are its characteristics, parameters and contexts that describe and define it? Based on this understanding, I sought to reflect on aspects related to the origin of these perceptions under the lenses of ethnomusicological perspectives, cultural studies, decolonial studies, feminist studies, and the coloniality of power and knowledge. A brief review shows how black musical expressions were interpreted in other historical periods. This itinerary, together with data from current black artists from Salvador, led to the answer to the thesis. The conclusion was formed from two perspectives: black music as a human phenomenon and discursive construction. Black music, as a human phenomenon, results from the fusion of diverse musical cultures of African origin. This fusion was created by different ethnic groups and their ethnic, cultural and social reconfigurations throughout the civilizing processes and historical developments. As a rhetorical construction, the expression black music is a linguistic and ideological construction conveyed to the political and social categorization of black people. The goal was to contribute to the reflections and debates that aim to repair, rethink and trigger actions to reverse the effects and consequences of such biased, colonialist and racist arguments that devalue not only black music and culture, but also the people who create, produce and perform them, preventing them from growing as a society, and obscuring their identities, cultural heritage and representation. Assuming that not encouraging debates and questions about the condition of black people in Brazil is to strengthen the structures of racism, this thesis presents itself as a contribution to the fight against the constructions and discourses that sustain black racism in this country.