Quando a viola fala: aspectos da vida social dos capoeiristas representados nas músicas de álbuns de capoeira da década de 1980

Abstract

This research addresses the representations of the social life of capoeira practitioners during the First Republic (1889–1930) through the analysis of songs present in two capoeira albums: Mestre Suassuna e Dirceu – Capoeira Cordão de Ouro, Vol. 3 (1983) and Mestre Waldemar, Mestre Canjiquinha – Capoeira, Volume 1 (1986). It starts from the principle that these songs constitute pertinent historical sources capable of revealing collective memories, daily practices, and forms of resistance of subalternized groups, especially marginalized Black people in the post-abolition period. Based on the works of masters Suassuna, Waldemar, and Canjiquinha, this study seeks to understand how the lyrics express lived experiences, specificities, and worldviews that date back to the post-abolition republican context, highlighting the persistence of racial and social tensions in the capoeira imaginary. The methodology combines qualitative and historical analysis of the lyrics, as well as contextualization of the recordings, treating the songs as sonic archives of popular experience. The results demonstrate how the songs function as bridges between past and present, preserving ancestral knowledge and denouncing social aspects and power relations.