Between the Biographical and the Collective

Fabulating Around Hip-Hop in the Documentary AmarElo: é tudo pra ontem

Abstract

This article constitutes an investigative exercise on the articulation of the biographical with the collective in narratives surrounding RAP. To this end, we analyze the poetic-performative movement constructed in the documentary-concert “AmarElo: é tudo pra ontem” (2020). The aim is to understand how this film brings forth meanings that intertwine collective and individual aspects, seeking to inscribe a particular perspective in debates about hip hop culture and the Black cultural matrices of Brazil. The hypothesis presented is that individual experiences can serve as frameworks for reorganizing collective memory, promoting temporal articulations and challenging conventions within the symbolic field of Brazilian hip hop. The theoretical-methodological perspective adopted involves an articulation between Paul Ricoeur's (2016) propositions on time and narrative, combined with discussions on the concept of performance as presented by André Brasil (2011) and Diana Taylor (2013), and Raymond Williams' (1997) concept of selective tradition. It was concluded that the fabulation achieved through the selective and discursive organization of historical events, sounds, subjects, and performances in the documentary-concert is fundamental for reorganizing the symbolic field of hip hop in Brazil, producing new meanings and conventions.