Da boca da noite à barra do dia as representações do cavalo marinho : o caso do boi ventania de Feira Nova - PE

Abstract

This work aims to understand the different representations of the “Cavalo Marinho”, through academic publications, folk literature and the narratives of social actors themselves. The Cavalo Marinho, object of this dissertation, is an artistic manifestation based on oral tradition which contains music, dance, poetry and the staging of figures. From these multiple languages we believe we can extract multiple, although conflicting, meanings: whether about the Agreste and the Zona da Mata’s regions - places where the “Cavalo Marinho de Bombo” happen as a form of expression; whether about the inhabitants of these places. According to a theoretical approach centered on Social and Cultural History, and based in authors such as E. P. Thompson and Roger Chartier, we understand culture as an arena of conflict in which there is always an interchange between the dominant and the subordinate, between the written and the oral. On the other hand, we realize that the study of popular culture enables us to understand how different historical realities are constructed, designed and represented by their social actors in different times and places. From bibliographical (books, theses, dissertations and monographs), iconographic and audio-visual surveys on the “Cavalo Marinho”, we went to meet the social actors in Northern Agreste and in the municipalities of North Zona da Mata, with an emphasis in Feira Nova, Lagoa do Goitá and Itaenga for conducting and recording interviews with members of the “Cavalo Marinho Boi Ventania” and other actors of the “Cavalo Marinho de Bombo” from this region. This study enabled us to not only to grasp the tunes, the “loas”, the steps of memories and narratives of these historical subjects, but also the history and culture of the region studied. The encounter between theory and practice results understanding of the Cavalo Marinho as Form of Expression, unlike other studies that present our object as a folk dancing, a vehicle information, or a play, among other insights.