Os Intelectuais de Esquerda e as Políticas Culturais da Fundação de Cultura de João Pessoa no Período de 2005 a 2008

Abstract

The objective of this article is to understand at the challenges encountered by left intellectuals acting in the political arena and specifically in the administration of the Cultural Foundation of Joao Pessoa. A mass mobilization of these intellectuals took place around the Mayoral candidate Ricardo Coutinho, seen as the representative of the preoccupations of the left. Given this participation in political action along with their artistic credibility the participation of this group in the formulation of the cultural policy of the Foundation between 2005 and 2008 was natural. The revolutionary inheritance of this group contributed towards a cultural policy in the form of a Gramscian “national popular” adopted by movements during the 1960s. During this administration cultural policy was oriented towards an appreciation of local artists and popular traditional culture as symbols of the cultural identity of the city. However it is evident that the treatment of intellectuals and artists of the left retained a romantic revolutionary character (Ridenti, 2000). The emphasis on popular culture by the FUNJOP group was a means of countering the culture industry as defined by Theodor Adorno. Thus our objective was to understand the limitations of left intellectuals in the construction of cultural policies through the organs of state power.