A MANIFESTAÇÃO QUE RESISTE ÀS MUDANÇAS: Turmas de samba e memória cultural no carnaval de rua de São Luís, Maranhão.

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the transformations of the street carnival of São Luís, Maranhão, focusing on the samba groups as traditional manifestations that have gone through processes of decline and resistance in the last decades. The main objective is to understand how the consolidation of a competitive model of parade, intensified between the 1980s and 1990s and inspired by the great carnivals of the Brazilian Southeast, impacted the traditional way of playing the carnival in Ludovica, contributing to the marginalization of certain associations. The research is based on the hypothesis that the weakening and extinction of various carnival games are not only the result of spontaneous cultural transformations, but are associated with political choices, the concentration of public resources and processes of symbolic hierarchization that privileged certain formats of spectacle. In this context, the samba classes stand out, considered precursors of the local samba schools and depositories of an older batucada, marked by strong community organization, territorial identity and anchorage in the collective memory. It is an interdisciplinary research that correlates the areas of history, anthropology, sociology, communication and cultural studies, articulating the concepts of memory, cultural identity, intangible cultural heritage and heritage. Methodologically, it adopts a qualitative approach, with emphasis on oral history, documentary and hemerographic analysis, and participant observation. The narratives of players, leaders and masters of the samba classes constitute the central axis of the investigation, allowing us to understand the transformations of carnival from the point of view of its own protagonists. The results indicate that the institutionalization of carnival contests and aesthetic standardization have significantly changed the dynamics of street carnival, contributing to the invisibility of traditional practices that did not adapt to the new technical and financial requirements. It is evident, however, that the samba groups remain active through strategies of cultural resistance based on memory, orality and identity reaffirmation. It is concluded that the street carnival of São Luís constitutes a field of symbolic disputes in which patrimonialization emerges as a possibility of recognition and safeguarding, but also as a process permeated by political and institutional tensions. By giving centrality to the samba groups, the study reaffirms their historical and cultural relevance and contributes to the debate on public policies aimed at valuing popular culture.