ORAL PRACTICES ABOUT THE BOI SURUBIM: CONSCIOUSNESS AND PRESERVATION OF THE MEMORY THROUGH ORALITY AND WRITING
Oral traditions. Literacy project. Bumba-meu-boi.
The severe neglect towards local culture displayed in the town of Madalena, Ceará, endangers one of its most relevant folkloric expressions, which is crucial to the cultural identity of the region, the “Bumba-meu-boi”. This festival has been promoted by the Rodrigues family, in the Teotônio Farm, and its surrounding properties since the beginning of the 20th century. However, the way things are going, considering the massive acculturation and lack of appreciation observed, the extinction of these oral traditions seems imminent. Out of the desire to change this scenario and of the need to transform teaching into a more contextualized practice, closer to the students’ realities, this academic and hands-on project was developed. Its object of study is the “Bumba-Meu-Boi” oral tradition and celebration. With the goal of producing in students critical thinking concerning local culture through reading and writing practices, an interconnection between school and community is required. This research is to be conducted in the Escola de Ensino Fundamental Paula Queiroz (Paula Queiroz Elementary School), with the participation of 9th grade students, having as its theoretical framework the literature of Kleiman, Oliveira, Tinoco, Marcuschi, Rojo, Cascudo and Freire among others. It presents a qualitative research method with an ethnographic perspective through which a literacy project (Kleiman) will be developed − in the aforementioned institution and class. Activities that explore mainly the functionality of research genres pertinent to this project (interviews, recordings, visits, surveys, videos, written entries, photographs etc.) will be promoted throughout the semester, in between classes, and will involve more collaborators such as art teachers and the community in question. An expected product of this research is an e-book as well as the creation of a physical space in the school designated to serve as a memorial for Boi Surubim.