Banda Didá em Salvador na Bahia: um estudo sobre práticas culturais em um coletivo de mulheres afro-brasileiras

Abstract

We start from the understanding that society has been, and is, gradually structured and classified by the racial, gender (heteronormative) and social class systems. This means arbitrarily choosing a specific identity as the parameter against which other identities are evaluated and ranked. In the meantime, the collective to which this research is linked emerges from these classifications. Banda Didá is an Afro bloco that allows family members, friends, black, poor, peripheral women from the community of historic centers to integrate and occupy social and public spaces in Salvador. The term Didá comes from the Yoruba language, meaning "the power of creation". The Bahian collective was founded in 1993 by musician Antônio Luís Alves de Souza, better known as Neguinho do Samba. Didá also has a cultural and educational character, in which the idea of freedom runs through the group's actions: there they can sing, play, teach/learn, and even reflect on their sensuality, both in the versions they sing and in the dance performance. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand how Banda Didá contributes to the formation of Afro-Brazilian cultural identity in Salvador. To this end, the objectives of this dissertation, in addition to seeking to understand the contribution of Banda Didá in the process of forming Afro-Brazilian cultural identity in Salvador, seek to further elucidate the importance of collectives in the process of teaching/learning the socio-historical and cultural formation of the Afro-Brazilian collective, as well as seeking to understand what cultural practices are carried out in the group, their impact on the lives of the people who are members and their insertion in the process of transforming Pelourinho into a place of Afro-Brazilian culture, meeting the demands of tourism. The study consists of qualitative research involving a historical bibliographical survey of the Banda Didá, field research using participant observation, an ethnographic approach and interviews. Considering the geographical location of the collective under study, the field research was carried out in Salvador - BA. In addition to understanding the reality in which the research took place, it further elucidates the importance of the collective in building a fairer and more equal society.