A música em uma Comunidade Judaica em Pernambuco

Abstract

This thesis is the result of a research on Jewish music in Recife / PE. The research aimed to investigate Jewish music in the community of Ashkenazi origin, a community whose members descended from Jewish immigrants who came from Eastern Europe and arrived in Recife in the early twentieth century, driven by the diasporic phenomenon that has long been accompanying the Jewish communities around the world, which therefore characterizes it as a migrant and ethnic minority community. The research universe prioritized community spaces where Jewish music is done collectively; such as the Israelite Center of Pernambuco (CIP), which houses the headquarters of the Israeli Federation of Pernambuco (FIPE), the Israelite College Moyses Chvartz and the Israeli Synagogue Isaac Schachnik, all in the same place, frequented by the community throughout the year; and also social events of this community, such as weddings and festivals, these, in several places of the city of Recife. The main and specific objectives were proposed in order to understand, from ethnomusicological perspectives and related areas, how Jewish music manifests the identity representation of being Jewish, religious and / or ethnic, in both sacred and profane spaces. The concept of dialogism served as the basis for the elaboration of the theoretical discussion presented in this thesis and factors such as ethnicity, symbolism, collective memory and otherness were considered in the observation of the construction of such identity, represented musically. The methodology was developed within a qualitative approach, configured as a case study, through ethnographic research. Data were obtained through observation and participant observation, interviews and testimonies, with support of bibliographical research. It was also made a "virtual ethnography", that is, the use of community internet sites as data source, all of these data being analyzed primarily by the ethnomusicological bias, thus showing results that point to the real complexity that Jewish music has, in view of their capacity for cultural assimilation combined with the religious and ethnic factor, well present in their musical structure. The social experience linked to the practice of music configures what can be called sonic experientialism, understood as the musical making associated with experiences related to ethnic, identity, religious and social factors as a whole. Having understood music as something inherent to the human being, it is therefore possible to realize the sound experience as the Jewish community in Recife does when, through its music, it reinforces these factors in a collective and constant way, experiencing Judaism through its songs.