Sopapo Poético: Sarau de poesia negra no extremo sul do Brasil

Abstract

We introduce Sopapo Poético, a black poetry sarau that occurs in Porto Alegre since 2012. We believe that this event is a meeting of two trends: The recent spread of peripheral saraus in São Paulo and other cities in Brazil, with the tradition of Afro Brazilian poetry, especially that produced since the 1970s. This meeting takes place in a specific context that determines the performance of local black activism: Porto Alegre, a significant "lettered city" and the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, a state marked by a regional race identity based on the myth of the European gaucho. We describe the sarau, developed in three stages: The open microphone recital, with spontaneous participation of the audience; the presentation of Sopapinho where children are brought to the center of the circle; and the honoree of the night, which combines a personal history report with artistic performance. Among the honorees, we highlight two important figures for the aesthetics of the sarau: The poet Oliveira Silveira and the sopapeiro Giba Giba. Analyzing the poetic interventions in their textual and performative dimensions, we are led to think of the intimate connection between the aesthetic and the political that is created in the sarau. Paul Gilroy's ideas on diasporic cultural politics in the Black Atlantic serve to understand the context of conflict and the development of afro-gaucho cultural identity.