Espaços de mediação na pedagogia vocal do canto popular: um estudo etnográfico no Rio de Janeiro e em São Paulo

Abstract

This work is an ethnographic study of vocal pedagogy practices for popular singing, mainly in Rio de Janeiro and occasionally in São Paulo. Given that formal singing education in the Western world, and specifically in Brazil, has been based on the tradition of classical singing, the formalization of popular singing has been progressing slowly and gradually for just over thirty years. The main objective of the research is to describe and analyze practices in this field of teaching and learning, with a focus on the professional conduct of singing teachers. The main tool for data production is participant observation in singing classes, courses, workshops, roundtable discussions, conferences, and study groups. Other tools used include field diaries and conducting in-person and digital platform interviews. The analytical methodology is based on social theories by Michel de Certeau (1988 [1980]), Howard Becker (2010 [1982]), Henry Kingsbury (1988) and Bruno Latour (2005). As suggested by Sandroni (2017), the research takes place in “mediation spaces,” meeting places between singing voice professionals, beyond the classroom, where experience exchange occurs democratically: study and research groups, academic meetings and conferences, associations of voice professionals, discussion lists, etc. Based on Latour (2005), the concept of “mediation space” here is expanded to include not only the idea of a place “beyond the classroom” or even the fixed notion of an infrastructure, but also any instance where there is “mediation,” the agency, communication, transformation of human and non-human actants, and the constitution of associative networks (network-spaces) which, when made and undone, are apprehended in their mobile dynamics. We conclude that collective actions in "mediation spaces" constitute a sociological phenomenon of mobility, where struggles for credibility, stabilization, and cooperative characteristics are observed, fostering the professional advancement of their members.