Slams dissidentes: performances poéticas e políticas da Slam das Minas (BA) e do Slam do Corpo (SP)

Abstract

This thesis investigates the characteristics of poetry slam in Brazil, a competition in which poets present original texts and are evaluated by a jury selected from the public. The research develops the concept of “dissident slams” to analyze groups that use slam as a platform to express their identities, fostering poetic elaboration and building spaces for intervention and social transformation beyond the competitive format. The relevance of slam as a cultural and political tool in the Brazilian scenario is observed, with a focus on the poetic and political performances of Slam das Minas (BA), which promotes the protagonism of black and peripheral women, and Slam do Corpo (SP), which seeks representation of deaf communities and intercultural relations between deaf and hearing people. The analysis expands the understanding of slam from an interdisciplinary perspective, engaging with the hip-hop movement, the studies of Roberta Estrela D’Alva, Marc Smith, Richard Schechner’s analysis of body performances. In addition, the research is supported by interviews and field observations, including the audiovisual recording of the documentary “De Mana pra Mana: Um papo com o Slam das Minas BA” (2022) produced during this study. Throughout the thesis, the intersections between slam and other artistic and cultural manifestations, such as vernacular visual poetry, are investigated, as well as the importance of the archive and repertoire in the construction of identities and memories of dissident slams.