“A beautiful flower that was born in the swamp”: tradition and recognition in the congo of Barra do Jucu, Vila Velha (Espírito Santo, Brazil)

Abstract

Analyzes the socio-environmental processes and relationships of the Congo Bands in the Barra do Jucu neighborhood in Vila Velha (Espírito Santo, Brazil) from the perspective of recognition as accomplishment. Throughout the changes resulting from the economic modernization process in the municipality of Vila Velha, the Congo, one of the references of popular culture in Espírito Santo, remained present as a reaffirmation of local identity in the Barra do Jucu neighborhood. From the perspective of Political Ecology, this research conducts a study based on the correlation between culture and the issue of recognition. To this end, it relies on the principles of the Theory of Recognition to understand the “institutionalization” processes of the tradition and their reflections on the self-realization of the members of the Congo Bands. In its qualitative methodological approach, with participant observation in the field, it describes the symbolic production as well as the cultural meanings attributed by the groups that keep this tradition alive, using discursive interviews. Thus, it highlights the elements that demonstrate how the Barra do Jucu neighborhood’s primary identity element is the Congo Bands, regarded as a cultural practice in order to understand the extent to which this manifestation serves as a strategy for the social recognition of its practitioners within the local community.