The identity (re)construction of samba schools from their samba songs in Rio de Janeiro
Utterance. Identity. Samba schools. Samba school song. Ideological Sign.
This study aims to investigate identity constructions of the samba schools of Rio de Janeiro from the representations expressed in their sambas-exaltation. For this purpose, we have assumed that these songs, like the national anthems, are ideological propagators of ways of thinking and constitutive of the identities of the community and of the community itself. The research falls within the perspective of Applied Linguistics because it is a theoretical field that understands language as social practice, anchored in the language conception of Bakhtin’s circle associated with the subject conceptions proposed by cultural studies. In the investigative process, we find that the identities of samba schools are often built in the relationship of alterity with the community, because at times we do not know if it is about the school or the community where the association is located. Beyond this discursive strategy, in their statements, the samba schools affirm their identities through the valorization of their past and the main symbols, which are the colors of their flag. The letters of the sambas are loaded with words of love, passion and devotion in what the community should develop through the school. Research has also indicated that these sambas dialogue with other concrete utterances, such as national and religious hymns. With regard to the identity constructions built on these sambas, the enunciative analyzes revealed that, through their samba school songs, the samba schools acquire a multiplicity of cultural identities, be it a religious identity, feminine identity, a place of beauty that nature created, place of happy people or place of samba.