Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Poetry Slams and Brasília’s Legacy of Verse Competitions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Art of Brasília

Part of the book series: New Directions in Latino American Cultures ((NDLAC))

  • 124 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter posits that, since 2015, Brasília’s minority poets have asserted their creative right to the city via poetry slams. These iterant competitions affirm the rights of female, LGBTQ+ , black, and low-income residents to exist in all corners of the capital. Two other types of verse competitions, repente duels and freestyle battles, preceded poetry slams in Brasília. In all three, participants perform original verses, and the best verses, according to the audience judges, win. More generally, however, in these competitions, members of an underrepresented group collectively compete for the group’s public recognition. Since these performances use competition structures that allow the audience to vote, they transcend the hegemonic gatekeepers of artistic merit and empower local residents to judge art’s worth. Analyses of poetry slams, Meimei Bastos’s 2015 performance of her poem “Eixo,” repente duels, and freestyle battles consider poetry slams within the context of Brasília’s strong tradition of verse competitions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Works Cited

  • “30 anos de portas abertas.” Correio Braziliense, 8 Nov. 2016, p. 24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aberrant Architecture (David Chambers and Kevin Haley), editors. Wherever You Find People: The Radical Schools of Oscar Niemeyer, Darcy Ribeiro and Leonel Brizola. Park Books, 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aizura, Aren Z. “Trans Feminine Value, Racialized Others and the Limits of Necropolitics.” Queer Necropolitics, edited by Jin Haritaworn, Adi Kuntsman, and Silvia Posocco. Routledge, 2014, pp. 129–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ângelo, Assis. A presença dos cordelistas e cantadores repentistas em São Paulo. IBRASA, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Associação dos Cantores Repentistas e Escritores Populares do DF e Entorno, repentistasdf.com.br/acrespo. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • Balibar, Etienne. Masses, Classes, Ideas. Translated by James Swenson, Routledge, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barroso, Gustavo. Ao som da viola. Rio de Janeiro, Livraria Editora Leite Ribeiro, 1921. Scribd, www.scribd.com/document/169508549/Gustavo-Barroso-Ao-Som-Da-Viola. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • Bastos, Meimei. “1° slam das minas – meimei bastos.” Video of Bastos’s performance of the poem “Eixo” at the first Slam das Minas, 23 May 2015. Vimeo, uploaded by tate ann [tatiana nascimento], 29 May 2015, vimeo.com/129254914. Accessed 8 Nov. 2018.

  • ———. “Eixo.” “A ‘quebrada’ grita por mais direitos e menos violência.” INESC.org.br, 14 Dec. 2015, www.inesc.org.br/noticias/noticias-do-inesc/2015/dezembro/a-quebrada-grita-por-mais-direitos-e-menos-violencia-contra-minorias. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

  • ———. Um verso e Mei. Malê Edições, 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batalha das Gurias. “Batalha das Gurias ‘BDG.’” Facebook, 7 July 2018, Post, www.facebook.com/batalhadasgurias/posts/878124635731878?__tn__=-R). Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

  • Batalha do Museu. “Desafio DF x BA.” Facebook, 9 Apr. 2017, Post, www.facebook.com/events/1669400843364558/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

  • Bhabha, Homi. “Preface to the Routledge Classics Edition.” The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994, pp. iv–xxxi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, Pierre. “The Economics of Linguistic Exchanges.” Translated by Richard Nice. Social Science Information, vol. 16, 1977, pp. 645–68. Sage, http://ssi.sagepub.com/content/16/6/645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, Judith. “Gender Trouble, Feminist Theory, and Psychoanalytic Discourse.” Feminism/Postmodernism, edited by Linda J Nicholson. Routledge, 1990, pp. 324–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabral, Ailim. “Combate de criatividade.” Revista do Correio Braziliense, 7 May 2017, pp. 20–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldeira, Teresa P. R. “Gender Is Still the Battleground: Youth, Cultural Production and the Remaking of Public Space in São Paulo.” The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South, edited by Susan Parnell and Sophie Oldfield, Routledge, 2014, pp. 413–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Câmara Cascudo, Luís da. Vaqueiros e cantores. Global Editora, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campoli, Clara. “Patrimônio cultural da cidade segue abandonado e fechado.” Metrópoles, 9 Sept. 2018, www.metropoles.com/entretenimento/politica-cultural/patrimonio-cultural-da-cidade-segue-abandonado-e-fechado.

  • “Casa do Cantador recebe festival que une rap, repente e mamulengo.” Jornal de Brasília, 27 Nov. 2014, www.jornaldebrasilia.com.br/viva/casa-do-cantador-recebe-festival-que-une-rap-repente-e-mamulengo/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2018.

  • Costa, Kariane. “Casa do Cantador, em Ceilândia (DF) recebe Festival de Violeiros.” EBC, 6 Apr. 2014, www.ebc.com.br/cultura/2014/04/casa-do-cantador-em-ceilandia-df-recebe-festival-de-violeiros. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.

  • Crook, Larry N. Brazilian Music: Northeastern Traditions and the Heartbeat of a Modern Nation. ABC-CLIO, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalcastagnè, Regina. Literatura brasileira contemporânea: um território contestado. Editora Horizonte / Editora da UERJ, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evaristo, Conceição. “Conceição Evaristo no Espaço Público.” Espaço Público, TV Brasil, Brasília, 27 May 2015, tvbrasil.ebc.com.br/espacopublico/episodio/espaco-publico-destaca-a-vida-luta-e-perseveranca-da-escritora-conceicao. Interview. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

  • Feagin, Joe R. “The Continuing Significance of Race: AntiBlack Discrimination in Public Places.” American Sociological Review, vol. 56, no. 1, 1991, pp. 101–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira Cazumbá, Renailda. “Vozes medievais no sertão: o intertexto no cancioneiro elomariano.” Revista Litterata, vol. 1, no. 1, 2011, pp. 269–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira Vaz, Paulo Bernardo, and Ricardo Fabrino Mendonça. “A representação visual do negro no jornal impresso.” INTERCOM – Sociedade Brasileira de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação XXV Congresso Brasileiro de Ciências da Comunicação, 1–5 Sept. 2002, Salvador Bahia. Address.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Frank Aguiar visita Casa do Cantador em Ceilândia (DF).” Agência Trabalhista de Notícias, 8 May 2007, Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro, ptb.org.br/frank-aguiar-visita-casa-do-cantador-em-ceilandia-df/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.

  • Frers, Lars, and Lars Meier. “Encountering Urban Places—Visual and Material Performances in the City.” Encountering Urban Places: Visual and Material Performances in the City, edited by Lars Frers and Lars Meier, Ashgate, 2007, pp. 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, Stephen. “The End of Geography or the Explosion of Place? Conceptualizing Space, Place and Information Technology.” Progress in Human Geography, vol. 22, no. 2, 1998, pp. 165–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guedes, Fábio. “Breve histórico da Casa do Cantador.” Casa do Cantador Website, 11 Oct. 2008, www.casadocantadordf.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/breve-historico-da-casa-do-cantador/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.

  • Holston, James. The Modernist City: An Anthropological Critique of Brasília. U of Chicago P, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacerda, Marcus, and Fábia Pessoa. “Capital ocupada.” Traços, no. 15, 2017, pp. 8–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lima, Zeuler R. M. A., and Vera M. Pallamin. “An Uncommon Common Space.” Encountering Urban Places: Visual and Material Performances in the City, edited by Lars Frers and Lars Meier, Ashgate, 2007, pp. 81–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes da Silva, Marcos Fabrício. “Literatura ‘Rapentista.’” Africanidades e relações raciais: insumos para políticas públicas na área do livro, leitura, literatura e bibliotecas no Brasil, edited by Cidinha da Silva. Fundação Cultural Palmares, 2014, pp. 230–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • MC BMO. “#BMOResponde8.” Video Interview. YouTube, uploaded by MC BMO, 25 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS9D0dcRxgU. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • MC Sid. “Papo de Mc - Sid (Nacional - projetos 2017) #3.” Interviewed by MC Zan. YouTube, uploaded by Zen Mc, 8 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIFJKaAUSFQ&feature=youtu.be. Interview. Accessed 8 Nov. 2018.

  • ———. “Rap News.” Music Video. Produced by Velho Beats. Directed by Léo Cunha. YouTube, uploaded by Rap Box, 11 Oct. 2017. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXT24nZNSvc. Accessed 8 Nov. 2018.

  • Menezes, Leilane. Post. Roque José & Teresinha Facebook Page. Facebook, 7 Oct. 2014 (originally written 20 June 2010), www.facebook.com/roquejoseeteresinha/posts/283915458474751. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

  • Mobília em casa. Directed by José Eduardo Belmonte. Pavirada Filmes, 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monteiro, Simone, and Fátima Cecchetto. “Cor, gênero e classe: dinâmicas da discriminação entre jovens de grupos populares cariocas.” Cadernos Pagu, vol. 32, 2009, pp. 301–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moysés, Maurício. Circuito rap do Distrito Federal: Território usado e lugar. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2018, Repositório da Produção Científica e Intelectual da Unicamp, repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/331366. Master’s Thesis.

  • Nascimento, Gruwer Iuri Maciel. Casa do Cantador em Ceilândia/DF: ‘…faz parte da minha história…’ Universidade de Brasília, 2014, Repositório Institucional da UnB, repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/19339. Master’s Thesis.

  • “O pequeno grande rapper.” Correio Braziliense, 6 Nov. 2016, p. 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pain, Rachel. “Space, Sexual Violence and Social Control: Integrating Geographical and Feminist Analyses of Women’s Fear of Crime.” Progress in Human Geography, vol. 15, no. 4, 1991, pp. 415–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perlman, Janice. Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro. Oxford, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porto, Mauro P. Media Power and Democratization in Brazil: TV Globo and the Dilemmas of Political Accountability. Routledge, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queirós, Adirley, director. Branco sai, preto fica. Ceicine, 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz de Souza, Laércio. Mulheres de repente: vozes femininas no repente nordestino. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 2003, Repositório Digital da UFPE, repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/7938. Master’s Thesis. Accessed 5 July 2019.

  • Ribeiro, Darcy. “The Teacher Speaks.” Wherever You Find People: The Radical Schools of Oscar Niemeyer, Darcy Ribeiro and Leonel Brizola, edited by Aberrant Architecture (David Chambers and Kevin Haley), Park Books, 2016, pp. 109–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruddick, Susan. “Constructing Difference in Public Spaces: Race, Class, and Gender as Interlocking Systems.” Urban Geography, vol. 17, no. 2, 1996, pp. 132–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samba Wheeler, Jesse. “Rock, Refrain and Remove: Hearing Place and Seeing Music in Brasília.” Ethnomusicology Forum, vol. 21, no. 1, 2012, pp. 77–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santiago, Silviano. “O cosmopolitismo do pobre.” O cosmopolitismo do pobre: crítica literária e crítica cultural. Editora UFMG, pp. 45–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos, Eurides de Souza, and Katiusca Lamara dos Santos Barbosa. “‘Canta quem sabe cantar’: processos performativos na arte da embolada.” Música em perspectiva, vol. 7, no. 2, 2014, dx.doi.org/10.5380/mp.v7i2.41504, pp. 61–83.

  • Sautchuk, João Miguel. “Poetic Improvisation in the Brazilian Northeast.” Vibrant, vol. 8, no. 1, 2011, pp. 260–90, Scielo, www.scielo.br/pdf/vb/v8n1/a10v8n1.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. A poética do improviso: prática e habilidade no repente nordestino. Editora Universidade de Brasília, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seigel, Jerrold. The Idea of the Self: Thought and Experience in Western Europe since the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge UP, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sena, Kika. “Descursos.” Batalha Nacional de Poesia Slam at the Festa Literária Periférica, 12 Nov. 2016, Rio de Janeiro. Slam poetry performance. Uploaded 13 Dec. 2016. www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3sugylEWPI. Accessed 18 Mar. 2019.

  • ———. Periférica. Brasília: padê editorial, 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silva Osório, Patrícia. “Cantoria de Pé de Parede: a atualização da cantoria nordestina em Brasília.” Cadernos de campo revista dos alunos de pós-graduação em antropologia social da USP, vol. 15, nos. 14/15, 2006, pp. 65–81, www.revistas.usp.br/cadernosdecampo/article/view/50098/54218.

  • ———. “Cantadores nordestinos e tradicionalistas gaúchos: a tradição nas lutas por inserções e autenticidades.” Campos: revista de antropologia social, vol. 13, no. 2, 2012, pp. 71–87, revistas.ufpr.br/campos/article/view/36781/22603.

  • Slam a Coisa Tá Preta. “Slam a Coisa Tá Preta.” Facebook, 16 Nov. 2015, Post, www.facebook.com/events/2052817964857490/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • Slam das Minas. “Carta de princípios do Slam das Minas!” Slam das Minas, 19 May 2015, slamdasminas.wordpress.com. Accessed 5 July 2019.

  • ———. “Slam das minas #17: especial Veredicto!” Facebook, 1 July 2016, Posted event, www.facebook.com/events/259913764372771/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • Slam Q’brada. Post. Facebook, 19 Mar. 2017, www.facebook.com/slam.qbrada/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • ———. Post. Facebook, 21 Sept. 2018, www.facebook.com/slam.qbrada/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

  • Tennina, Lucía. “Afeto, escrita e corpo na produção feminina das periferias de São Paulo.” Do trauma à trama: o espaço urbano na literatura brasileira contemporânea, edited by Ricardo Barberena and Regina Dalcastagné, Porto Alegre, Luminara Editorial, 2015, pp. 301–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, Gill. “(Re)negotiating the ‘Heterosexual Street’: Lesbian Production of Space.” BodySpace: Destabilising Geographies of Gender and Sexuality, edited by Nancy Duncan, Routledge, 1996, pp. 145–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veiga, Ana Maria and Morgani Guzzo. “‘Trans-historizar’ o espaço público dentro e fora da academia: desafios para a historiografia e para o feminismo?” Revista Esboços, vol. 23, no. 35, 2016, pp. 182–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Vídeo Casa do Cantador – Ceilândia (DF) 2a parte.” YouTube, uploaded by Deputado Frank Aguiar, 7 May 2007, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa923a7VY6c. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

  • “Vídeos do Slam das Minas.” Slam das Minas, 5 June 2015, slamdasminas.wordpress.com. Accessed 26 Sept. 2018.

  • Weheliye, Alexander. Habeas Viscus: Racializing Assemblages, Biopolitics, and Black Feminist Theories of the Human. Duke UP, 2014.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Sophia Beal

Authors
  1. Sophia Beal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sophia Beal .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Beal, S. (2020). Poetry Slams and Brasília’s Legacy of Verse Competitions. In: The Art of Brasília. New Directions in Latino American Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37137-1_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation